Reverse Rebirth: Replica
by Embrace of Destiny
Summary: Taking destiny into his own hands, the Riku Replica walks a path that will lead him across the precipice of light and darkness to experience adventure, friendship, despair, hope, and what it truly means to be human.
1. Prologue

**Reverse Rebirth: Replica**

**Prologue**

"_Castle Oblivion Record X. VII. II,_

'_The Subject' appears to be stable and I am certain that the memory transfer conducted by the Nobody Naminé has been a success. 'The Subject' has not shown any signs of mental collapse and I am confident that my experiment will cause 'The Subject' to behave as expected. _

_However, prior to the experiment, 'The Subject' showed signs of both physical and emotional instability. I can stipulate that the physical instability is a result of the product being intentionally incomplete due to the project's overarching and regrettable failure. The cause of 'The Subject's' emotional volatility is much more difficult to discern, though I am hypothesizing that the highly concentrated levels of darkness in 'The Subject's' heart is certainly a factor, if not the sole source. Yet I have intentionally instructed Naminé to ensure that the memory transfer procedure will heighten 'The Subject's' emotional response to given stimuli. While this action has increased the likelihood that the 'The Subject' will adhere to my plans by following through with its infallible memories and feelings, it may also become unpredictable if not observed and guided properly. Therefore, I have resolved to monitor it closely until I can be certain that its heart can withstand the levels of darkness imposed on it._

_Seconds before Naminé shattered 'The Subject's' heart to begin with a clean slate under my orders, I sensed an unusually powerful use of darkness not previously exhibited by 'The Subject'. Therefore, it will be under observation until I can determine the cause." _

The pen hovered with its tip lightly pressed against the notepaper as Vexen read his final sentence, ink beginning to pool in the creation of an overly large period as his eyes eagerly scanned the words. Satisfied with the clarity of his notes, he lay the pen to the side and closed the black, bound notebook. With a quiet sigh of satisfaction, he peered across bony, steepled fingers in the direction of his subject.

Lying beneath a threadbare, white sheet and atop a surgical gurney that Vexen had removed from his usual laboratory and brought to the castle lay a boy. In appearance the boy was approximately fifteen years old, though in actuality he had been alive for less than a week. The boy was slender, though very fit, with definite muscular arcs plainly visible though the thin sheet. Silver hair was splayed about the pillow in mock presentation of a halo. The curves of the boy's high cheekbones, jaw, and brow were delicate, almost feminine, yet the boy was clearly male, though Vexen could only bring himself to refer to the boy as 'it'.

The boy's chest delicately rose and fell with each even breath, as was common with deep sleep. Its full lips were parted slightly, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Vexen watched as eyes darted rapidly behind closed lids, though not in peaceful bliss. Vexen knew that his subject's new memories were in the final stages of taking root and was preparing to awaken.

The sheet, which was tightly tucked around its waist, prevented any sudden movement, though its wrists and ankles were enclosed in metal clamps for insurance. Vexen doubted that the boy would be able to fight the instant it awoke, no doubt succumbing to exhaustion. Nevertheless, he did not want to take any chances with his project injuring him or Naminé. The boy had certainly fought back when forced into this experiment.

Rising to his feet, Vexen tucked a strand of his long, lank, blond hair behind an ear and began to pace towards the boy. To his right he heard a sound of quiet alarm.

Vexen sneered at the source. "No cause for panic, Naminé. I merely wish to check the status of my project. I trust that there have not been any complications?" There was a lingering threat added to his tone to imply what would happen if there had been. This was more for a display of authority than anything else as the boy was easily replaceable and Naminé was far from it.

She only gave a mute nod and shuffled her body in the direction of the boy, whom she was supposed to be watching over. She had positioned her body in such a way that implied she was trying to take up as little room on the chair as possible.

Vexen scrutinized her closely. Sometimes even he, fully comprehending the mechanics of it, found it a challenge to recall that Naminé was a Nobody like himself.

When a living being loses his heart, Vexen reminded himself, the darkness in his heart takes on living form as a Heartless. Yet, if the victim has an unusually powerful heart, the empty shell left behind will continue to live on as a paradoxically named 'Nobody', unable to know any emotions.

However, the bodies of most of these Nobodies became horrifically twisted and mangled beyond recognition. They will have some sense of awareness, yet be almost entirely subservient to a higher power.

There was another possibility. If the person whose heart was torn away once contained a heart of immeasurable strength and purpose, that Nobody would be able to keep their human form. Vexen felt certain that his records were up to date and only knew of fourteen beings to have achieved such a feat. Vexen himself was of course one such Nobody, as was Naminé. Though looking at her, Vexen could scarcely understand why such a lifeless, cowardly, and wholly unremarkable girl had been granted such a high honour. Thankfully, he mused, she was never offered to wear the coveted coat of the Organization Thirteen.

The Organization Thirteen, or XIII, was comprised of thirteen Nobodies who had maintained their human form. They served reverently under Xemnas, their Superior, who had given them each their new names and permission to wear the cloak. Within the Organization, Vexen was ranked fourth and although the numbers represented seniority, Vexen considered it a worthy achievement. Certainly he felt that he deserved far more respect than the others who came with him felt inclined to give.

He had been joined at Castle Oblivion by two of the original six, Lexaeus and Zexion, whom he respected well enough, in addition to three unruly neophytes, Axel, Larxene, and Marluxia. Vexen often wondered what his esteemed Superior had been thinking to invite such dangerous lose cannons into such a covert and influential operation. Despite his reservations and protests, Vexen knew it would be impetuous to step out of line and question the highest ranked Nobody of them all. Despite this, Vexen maintained one eye watching over his project's progress while keeping the other one tightly trained on their antics.

Bored with examining his project, which had been motionless for over a day, he turned towards Naminé. She sat on her chair with her hands folded like wilted flowers across the cover of a sketchbook. She made no move to open it. Set against the white marble of the room, Naminé seemed even more pale and frightened than usual. With her white dress, light blonde hair, and startlingly blue eyes, she almost disappeared from the room entirely. Vexen knew that she wanted little more.

Despite his distaste for the girl, Vexen could not deny her usefulness to the Organization. Naminé was had a mysterious power that enabled her to remove the links that bound the chains of one's memory. In doing so, she could completely rewrite a person's identity or destroy their heart completely. The uses of this extraordinary ability were innumerable.

Yet her powers had a limitation – Naminé could only manipulate the hearts of those connected in some way to the Keyblade bearer, a boy by the name of Sora. However, as Sora's journey allowed him to touch many hearts, this problem had not yet arisen.

Fortunately for Vexen, his project was connected in the purest way to Sora's closest friend and rival Keyblade wielder, Riku. In fact, the boy was originally deemed an utter failure until Vexen realized that it could be used to test Riku's abilities as well as verify the results of Vexen's program. Yet, despite granted the boy devastating control over the forces of darkness, it still fell to Riku.

Despite everything he had given the boy, it still collapsed to a young man who could scarcely handle the darkness within himself. Furious with the boy's failure, Vexen was more than prepared to scrap the project entirely when a new direction was prepositioned to him: alter the boy's memories so that it would believe itself to be Riku in order to experiment with Sora's strength. Terrified by the prospect, the boy had protested, but Vexen, Larxene, and Axel managed to subdue it into unconsciousness. Then Naminé was able to begin her work.

Naminé was the only one of the four who seemed uncomfortable with their actions. As Nobodies, they were unable to feel any sort of remorse or compassion for the boy as it struggled and pleaded in vain for freedom. Naminé should not have been any different, yet Vexen recalled how the girl's eyes had fallen downcast, unable to bear looking into its eyes as it screamed for her help while she instead crushed its entire existence. Perhaps, he reasoned, it had to do with whose Nobody she was.

Looking back at his project, Vexen's lips curved into a scowl. Because the boy was created to wield a Keyblade and unable to do so, despite the otherwise perfection of the project, it was previously deemed a failure and therefore left unnumbered, it was more or less indistinguishable from the exterior. Only projects that were able to fulfill their purpose, such as his most recent creation, No.i, were rewarded with numbers.

Looking back, Vexen rationalized that he ought to have marked the boy the moment that it and No.i had encountered each other. Only moments after its creation, No.i had followed Vexen, hooded and silent, past the rows of slumbering experiments. Barely conscious, it had paid each one no heed until it had reached the boy now lying on the operating table. No.i slowed for the slightest second, laying its hand atop the boy's forehead before continuing on without a word. This simple action, whether it was intentional or merely a coincidence, was enough to intrigue Vexen's inquisitive mind. It was therefore because of No.I's interference that Vexen had decided to bring that boy in particular to Castle Oblivion, despite its failed status in hope that No.i had somehow noticed something he had missed.

Vexen scowled at the oversight – had he known that the project was going to go in this unprecedented direction, he would have taken precautions in order to better label his work.

He grabbed a scalpel off one of the lower shelves of the table. Naminé's eyes widened, following the knife's path as Vexen lifted the boy's head in his hand. He ran his thumb down the back of the boy's neck, intending to carve a marking at its base. His fingers lightly scraped over something rough and he stopped abruptly. The boy should have been unblemished, pristine, yet someone had already marked it.

"What?" Vexen's eyebrows knitted in frustration and concern while lifting the head higher to peer at the marking. Scowling under his breath and cursing whoever had been brash enough to mar his project, he brushed away hair to reveal what was hidden. Unable to make it out, Vexen pressed against it with his thumb to better feel it.

At once he felt a searing, burning pain against his fingertips. His senses were assaulted by a powerful surge of darkness – one that he recognized immediately. It was the same sensation that took over the room seconds before the boy had been put to sleep.

Crying out in alarm, Vexen abruptly dropped him. The boy's head fell against the table with a clatter.

"Ow," mumbled the boy with a pained wince, having been jostled awake. Vexen froze. Clear aqua eyes fluttered open beneath thick, black lashes as pupils rapidly contracted in response to the light within the room. The boy's eyes darted as it glanced around in bewilderment. Vexen could practically see all of the neurons in its brain firing to process the new stimuli.

Faintly it began to struggle against the bindings, more out of confusion than any desire to break free. After a moment, it relaxed in apparent exhaustion.

Vexen's sighed. It would be a few hours before the boy would be able to fight back, giving him ample time to set up the scenario he had in mind.

Suddenly the boy stiffened as if it heard something. Vexen knew that it was using one of its inherited gits – the ability to identify others by their distinctive 'scent' of mingled darkness and light. But Vexen knew the boy was not interested in his creator.

Vexen could scarcely breathe. He could mark it later; now was the time to see if all of his work had been in vain.

"Naminé?" a small smile spread across the boy's features as it said in a whisper that was overcome with emotion, "You're here. I finally found you."

Naminé shrunk back as if burned and the boy continued to smile as if it had not noticed.

Vexen fought a grin. The project was a success. The boy had been given all of Riku's memories with two adjustments. The first was that it would see Sora as a rival, an enemy even, in order to further test the Keyblade wielder's abilities. The second was that it would possess an overwhelming and all-consuming devotion to Naminé, a girl who should have never been in those memories to begin with.

Vexen cleared his throat and cupped the boy's chin to force its eyes on him. He ignored how the boy recoiled from his icy touch and said, "It is time you awoke, Riku."

The boy's eyes narrowed menacingly as he surveyed the face above him, though Vexen had noted the subtle shift in its features upon hearing his last word. It recognized its name.

"Who are you?" it commanded rather than asked.

"Vexen," he answered curtly, disgusted that the boy would even think of giving him an order. "And it would be in your best interests to show me some respect."

All he received in response was a roll of the eyes and a smirk. Too tired to continue any longer, the boy sank back into sleep. Naminé breathed a sigh of relief.

Vexen scowled, suddenly desiring nothing more than to abandon all reservations and slap the insolent child across the face. This was his project and he would not be undermined. He took enough abuse from Axel and the others, but the audacity of the boy, who owed him its entire existence, was almost too much.

He hurled the scalpel next to the boy's head with more force than necessary and huffily returned to his desk. Vexen flipped open to a crisp new page of his notebook and began to make notes of his observations.

"_Castle Oblivion Record X__ .V_II. III,

'_The Subject' has responded as I had anticipated to the stimuli. The relationship with Naminé has been established and the project will undoubtedly continue forward as expected. When interacting with Naminé, she responded with disgust to its presence, though 'The Subject' took no notice. The memories I have selected to impose on 'The Subject' will ensure that its actions will be perfectly align with my goals. It has no sense of identity beyond what I have allowed it. _

_The marking on its neck will require further investigation at a later date. But for the moment, I can conclude with confidence that 'The Subject' will to serve the Organization and fulfill its purpose without interference."_

The boy was, after all, only a replica.

* * *

Hi everyone! This is the prologue to Reverse Rebirth, a story I have wanted to write for some time now, that will follow an alternative ending to the Riku Replica's story in Castle Oblivion. I wanted to make it accessible to people like me who have played every single Kingdom Hearts game the moment they were released as well as people who are just becoming interested in the series and might need some concepts explained.

I hope the prologue was good enough to attract some interest (this is my first published story) and I will try to have the first chapter up within the next week. Have a great day!


	2. The Shadow

Here is the first chapter (er, sort of - see notes for clarification). I am very sorry if anyone got updates from me attempting to upload this thing because I am still trying to figure out this site.

Disclaimer: I do not own Disney, Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy. All are the properties of their respective owners.

* * *

**1**

The Shadow

_Castle Oblivion_

Silently the replica trudged behind Axel, watching the tail of his black coat sway as he marched, concentrating solely on maintaining an even distance between them that was both close and far enough that he choose to attack or run if Axel suddenly changed his mind. Every movement Axel made caused his own muscles to tighten in preparation for either development. The replica knew that Axel was fast, regrettably even faster than he was at the moment, and he would have less than a second to make a decision if the choice were to present itself.

The pearly white walls, halls, and doors of the castle seemed endlessly repeating. Even without the mysterious memory-altering power of the castle, he had quickly become lost as to which floor they were currently traveling on and was blindly relying on Axel to lead. The fact that he was so confused, and vulnerable as a result, made him feel even more restless.

At first he had wondered if Axel felt as wary of his presence as he did. Were he in control, the replica never would have never put himself in such a compromised, trusting position given Axel's history of literally stabbing others in the back. Yet Axel barely seemed to notice he was there.

"_He probably doesn't consider me a threat,"_ the replica considered with an audible scowl. As if in retaliation, he griped his copied version of Soul Eater, a once unique sword resembling a demonic wing, tighter and focused on walking even more purposefully. His footsteps began echoing loudly off the cold floor with each step. It was almost as if he wanted to remind Axel he was there. He also fixated his gaze on Axel's back. His eyes narrowed as he carefully watched for any sign of unusual movement, a fluctuation in stride or a tightening of the wrist, to give any indication that Axel was going to suddenly turn around and strike.

If the replica could have chosen one word to describe Axel it would have been 'sharp'. The black hooded coat he wore did little to conceal his spindly toothpick body, jutting shoulders, and elbows. If he craned his head to the side, the replica could see the angular curve of his face and even the tip of his pointed nose.

"_He looks like a broom,"_ the replica commented to himself._ "With clothes. Set on fire." _The replica smirked at the image as he watched Axel's spiked red hair bounce slightly with each step. If he squinted his eyes slightly to block out the light from the corridor, he could almost imagine it as a flickering flame.

"_I wonder if it's natural," _thought the replica as he watched Axel, _"Or does he style it? Something like that would take an hour at least. Or is it just_ _something that happens when you control fire?"_

That seemed plausible enough. It was more believable at least than Axel spending hours in front of a mirror to tease his hair up to that length. Larxene, one of Axel's comrades in The Organization, had used electricity as her weapon and her golden hair had been styled to sport two antenna-like appendages from her bangs. Now that the replica deliberated it, it could be argued that they were supposed to represent lightning bolts. Even further, Marluxia had controlled flowers and plants and his hair was a rosy brown. But then, the replica reflected, Vexen fought with ice and his hair was a lank, greasy yellow that hung like string…

"It's kind of creepy when you stare at me like that. What exactly are you thinking about?"

The replica jumped back and nearly dropped his sword in alarm. Axel had stopped dead in the center of the hallway and the replica had been only a few steps from crashing into him. With his arms folded across his thin chest, Axel had raised his eyebrows quizzically and appeared to be waiting for an answer.

A very strong part of him wanted to quip "what's with your hair?" just to see what Axel would say.

Undeterred and even amused, Axel chuckled, "So, you're still giving me the silent treatment, are you? Funny, the way I remember it you were quite the chatterbox, so why the change of heart?"

In retaliation the replica scowled and crossed his own arms, determined to not to meet Axel's eyes and give any indication of how badly his mind had wandered. This proved to be a simple task since Axel stood nearly a head taller than he was, meaning that all he had to do was glower straight ahead at his chest to make his point.

When it became clear that he was not going to receive a response, Axel gave a one-shouldered shrug and turned as if to carry on. The replica sighed soundlessly and rolled his eyes, glad at least that they could start moving again. This time, he resolved, his mind would stay more focused.

It had been little over an hour ago that he had walked away from Sora and Naminé and strolled through the doorway of Cast Oblivion's highest floor, thirteen, while forcing his lips to preserve the warm smile he had given Sora before turning away. He had tried desperately to ignore the voice that called a name – though not his – after him, its tone pleading him to reconsider.

However, once he had descended to the twelfth floor and their voices, already turned to more pressing topics, were no more than faint whispers, the replica's smile vanished, leaving only a shadow of the first faint moment of happiness he had ever felt.

He was alone. No black cloaks were coming to claim him; there were no Heartless, even. He sighed. Hazily aware that his legs were trembling, the replica placed his hand against the wall and used it to guide himself down to the cold floor. He could not recall ever being so exhausted, though he did not believe that it was entirely due to physical matters. His arms wrapped tightly around his legs, pulling them to his chest as he lay his forehead against them so that only the tips of his silver bangs were visible. _"What do I do now? Where am I supposed to go?"_

He wanted to escape. He wanted to leap up and renounce his ties to the castle, abandoning all of the horrible memories behind. But knew that it could never be as simple as that. The hall may have fallen silent, but he was not truly alone.

Apart from himself, a few beings still remained in the castle; Axel was still alive (the replica lifted his head to quickly glance around for him, unwilling to only trust his own senses), there were the usual Heartless patrolling the floors, and he had just left Sora, Naminé, Donald, and Goofy one floor above. He could also sense another, faint and shrouded from him, in the lower floors. There were also some other scents he did not recognize – two very bright, the other clouded, and the final scent was absolutely drowning in darkness. Though curious about the unknown scents, he kept himself from investigating further in case they were traps.

Though far from friends, he did not believe that Sora and the others would cause him harm and no Heartless were invading his floor yet. But Axel would hunt him. The replica had seen too much and learned far more than the Organization thought he would, and he knew that made him a liability.

Axel had murdered Vexen. The replica had not been present at the time, yet was able to piece together what happened. Sora entered a world created from his memories. Vexen pursued him and Axel followed Vexen. Three beings went in, two came out alive, and neither was Vexen.

The replica felt no pity for Vexen, though he supposed he owed his facsimile of a life to the man. Even before he learned that he was a replica, Vexen had unnerved him, staring at him like he was a treat for a hungry dog, yet regarding him with as much esteem as just another beaker in the lab.

Axel, like Vexen, had concerned him, though for an entirely different reason. The replica found Vexen simple enough to read - he was concerned about his experiments, standing within the group, and little else – but Axel would just stare at him, his piercing green eyes like burning knives against the replica's skin. Axel, the replica had concluded upon first meeting him, was dangerous because he betrayed his thoughts to none but himself.

However, despite their differences, the two had something very important in common - both had been members of the same group, a group that also included Larxene and Marluxia, called The Organization. The replica could easily count on one hand the number of things he knew about the shadowy faction: they called themselves Nobodies (with a capital 'N' he had been reprimanded after making a snide comment in front of Marluxia), they all had the letter 'X' somewhere in their names, considered black hooded cloaks, boots, and gloves to be appropriate attire for any situation. They also wielded some sort of unique weapon while controlling an elemental power, and, most importantly, appeared to have difficulty avoiding stabbing each other in the back.

Marluxia and Larxene had endeavoured futilely to manipulate the unique powers of both Sora as the Keyblade wielder and Naminé's talents at rewriting memories to cause the downfall of the Organization. The replica could not understand exactly what they wanted Sora for, as they had callously brushed away his questions every time he asked. This had not unduly bothered him; at the time he was only truly concerned about Naminé's safety. As long as he played his part according to their orders, they had assured him, she would be unharmed.

However, Marluxia had known that Vexen would oppose their actions, leading Axel to annihilate Vexen on Marluxia's orders to prove his loyalty to the cause. Yet Axel's loyalty proved to be hard-won, when he almost immediately turned his flames to Marluxia. If Marluxia had not chosen to use Naminé as a shield, calling Sora to her aid, the replica was certain that Marluxia would have been incinerated just like Vexen.

After that battle Axel had disappeared and Sora likely believed he had fled the castle for good. But the replica could sense him on the lower floors, pacing and traversing each floor quickly and drawing closer every minute. He was searching for something.

"I have to run," he muttered to himself. "I don't have any other choice now." He pulled his knees in tighter, pressing them against his eyelids until he saw stars. "Maybe I should just let Axel end me too."

With nothing else to concentrate on except for his own thoughts, which were rapidly swirling out of control, and the hammering of his own heart as it echoed throughout his body, the replica attempted weakly to focus on sensing Sora and Naminé.

Maybe they would ignore his wishes and leave the thirteenth floor to find him. Though alone he was now much too weak, with Sora by his side the replica would be able to stand against Axel, allowing the three of them to leave together. Or maybe (the replica did not even permit himself to feel any hope at all) they were all part of another ruse by the Organization and _he_ was in fact real, and it would be his duty to return to Sora and Naminé to set things right.

But of course the replica knew that was a lie. There was another scent lurking and skulking deep in the basement floors that he had chosen to ignore despite how much its presence assailed him. He knew the boy's name and face though the two of them had never, to his knowledge, met. He knew the scent because it was identical to his.

The boy's name was Riku.

That was the name that Sora had called the replica by when he left the thirteenth floor. Riku's was the face he bore, the life he had lived, and the memories he had cherished. In one second, delivered in a poisonous sneer from Larxene's lips, his identity had been wrenched from him. He was not Riku, but a replica built by Vexen to serve the Organization. Even his dearest memories with Naminé were a twisted, fabricated version of the truth Riku had lived made to force him to hate Sora, reject his home, and swear to protect Naminé, all in the name of serving their higher purpose.

However, disregarding the difference in memories, the replica knew that he was an identical copy. His powerful body that mere days ago he had been so proud of was not due to years of training and exercise - it was merely copied. Even the sword he could summon from pure darkness with a flick of his wrist was only a fake based off Riku's Soul Eater. Just being able to sense Riku on the lower floors was an inherited trait.

He wanted to run back to Naminé and Sora. More than anything he wanted to see their faces again, watch them as they smiled and told him that it never mattered that he was a replica. But soon Sora would be reunited with the real Riku. The replica knew that he would likely never see Sora again.

However, Naminé was different. After Sora departed, she would have no one and would be alone in the Castle. The replica's memories told him that he and Sora had been challenging one another for her love all their lives. As children they had argued over who would be Naminé's next model for her sketches and making promises to protect her forever. Their arguments continued playfully until she disappeared one night in a meteor storm. The two were devastated, yet began to move on in their own ways until the memories of Naminé's name, face, and smile slowly faded. Neither Sora nor Riku could recall anything about the girl for whom they would once have given their lives for nearly ten years, until they traversed through Castle Oblivion and learned that Naminé was being held captive by the Organization.

Of course the memories had all been little more than a deceitful fabrication. Naminé had never been a part of Riku and Sora's childhood and she was as much a pawn of the Organization as he was. Although he knew it was sheer manipulation of his heart through his memories, he could not shake the need to protect and be close to her. Naminé had clearly played her part well and knowing that he could never see her again nearly brought him to tears.

"_This isn't right. You don't love her. You don't love her. You don't love her… you don't love her…"_

A sudden thought surged through him. What if Riku reached Sora and Naminé and made the memories real? What if Riku took his place? He gripped his head tightly as if to force it out, knowing that the sheer agony he felt was not normal for any real human being.

"_Maybe I can just kill Riku while he's down there. No one would notice."_ Smirking icily at the idea, he honed his attention back on Axel. He was now only three floors away and there would be no way to get past him now. _"I'm thinking like him now. Axel would be proud of me."_

Suddenly he stiffened as the scents around him shifted. Raising his head, he noticed that two Heartless had appeared. They were small and red, hovering in the air as their yellow eyes bore into him. If he had not known better, he might have believed they were curious. The replica sighed in relief. His mastery of darkness was enough that they presented no threat to him.

He rose to his feet even less steadily than before and summoned Soul Eater to his hand. Fake or not it was his best chance against Axel and even if he was killed like Vexen for being a liability, he was determined to at least fight until he could no longer stand.

The air around him grew hot. The replica flinched – Axel was still two floors away. So what was causing -

"Ah!"

The replica ducked as the Heartless shot a fireball at his face, narrowly missing the top of his head. Five more Heartless, different species this time, materialized beside the first two.

Glancing at each Heartless, the replica steadied his resolve, allowing darkness to arise from his body. He willed them to stop attacking.

The Heartless froze and the replica smiled. While that had been a nuisance, the Heartless presented a possible solution if he could order them to attack Axel the moment he arrived. The diversion might give him enough time to escape.

Pondering the best position for his surprise attack, the replica happened to glance down just as a Soldier Heartless leapt forward towards his chest. Pinning himself against the wall in shock, he delivered a punch to the visor, sending it flying. The first Heartless tried to create another fireball. He sliced it in half before it got the chance, causing it to disappear instantly.

"_Something is overriding me!"_

Heartless were mindless, obeying their carnal instincts to wrench living hearts from their victims. However, they would obey with will of the being with the darkest heart. This was not a random attack – someone was controlling them.

"_Axel!"_

Crouching into a roll, he dashed forward to dodge another attack. The Heartless ran forward to block the doorway as more began to appear until they circled him completely.

His eyes narrowed. Cold, pulsating darkness began to surge from the centre of his chest throughout his muscles. It travelled through his veins to reach ready arms and legs. The stench of raw power became almost unbearable as it filled his body. It was ready. Darkness became him and he it. The replica smirked as he brought Soul Eater above his head unleashed Dark Aura.

The replica screamed as his body sliced apart from the inside. There was no Dark Aura. Only pain. Searing, tearing pain. Collapsing forward, he slammed against the ground and felt his stomach heave as he coughed blood onto the pearly floor. The replica tried to force in haggard breaths, but only coughed up more dark, bubbling blood. Shaking wildly, he cracked open a single eye just in time to see a bright flash of light. His muscles began to spasm and he felt his skin grow first hot, then freezing cold. He could smell burning flesh.

"_Get up. You have to get up."_

He opened another eye and saw Soul Eater lying just beyond his reach. He tried to summon it back to him, but suddenly felt very afraid of it. Something had gone wrong with Dark Aura and he had no way of knowing what caused it, however the copied sword suddenly malfunctioning seemed the most likely. A Heartless struck for his chest and he quickly decided to take his chances. Soul Eater vanished and materialized in his hand as expected. The Heartless faded into blackness the instant it was struck. More than twenty still surrounded him.

Jumping to his feet, the replica held Soul Eater in front of him and took a ragged breath. He almost used Dark Barrier to create a shield around himself, but stopped. No dark attacks until he knew why Dark Aura had collapsed. Another wheezing breath told him that even if he tried, he no longer had the strength to uphold the barrier for even a second.

The replica tried to attack, but his legs shook and he fell to one knee. He could feel the Heartless closing in on him. Briefly he wondered what they would do with an artificial heart. Would they not notice the difference and devour it all the same?

"_No. I'm not… I'm not going to die like this."_

With a roar, he sprung into the air and tackled the nearest Soldier Heartless to the floor. Viciously he plunged Soul Eater into its unprotected eye. It let out a sound something like a scream. Without waiting to watch it vanish, he impaled another and another. The Soldiers were protected by armor, though their faces were bare, while the others were easier to take down in an arc. Beyond the point of exhaustion, he fought in a blind frenzy with only the thought of making down the stairs alive keeping him on his feet.

But his movements were almost laughably slowing, and each passing second revealed another Heartless to replace the fallen. No matter how many he struck down, he was never getting closer to the door. The weakness in his body told him that he only had minutes left to find a way past.

If he couldn't, willing or not, he would stop.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a red flash and felt the heat as a silver wheel shot by his left ear, impaling through the chest of a Heartless behind him.

His heart constricted. He should have sensed him sooner.

"You look like you're having fun."

"Are you doing this?!" he snarled while Axel's smirk widened. A quick roll removed him from the path of another lightning strike but returning to his feet was proving to be a challenge he had not anticipated as his boots smeared the bloodstain across the floor as he slipped and fell. The replica chose to attribute it to the blood rather than the fact that his legs felt like wet sand.

Axel laughed, seemingly unconcerned by the replica's difficulties. "You know, funnily enough, I'm actually not. Need some help?"

"_If not you, then… who?"_ the replica's mind returned to the scents lingering within the castle, specifically recalling the mysterious one with the incredibly dark scent. The replica tried to search for it, but it seemed to have vanished, as had one of the other scents he noticed in the lower basements. Riku was gone as well.

Another slash by a Soldier Heartless reminded him that he needed to focus on the Heartless before figuring out who else wanted to get rid of him.

That would come if he could get past Axel.

"I think I got this. You can go now."

"Nice try."

The replica ignored him and took another swing at the Heartless. Immediately it exploded in a ball of fire, forcing him to leap clear. When he recovered all of the Heartless had vanished, leaving only smoke and ashes behind.

Heart pounding, the replica stepped back as Axel watched him with an unsettling look in his eyes. "I told you I had it."

"I'm on something of a tight schedule here."

"Sorry, don't let me keep you," the replica snapped, trying not to let Axel see his wandering eyes.

Following his gaze, Axel shook his head and sidestepped to block the door as completely as his lanky body could allow. "You're not going through there without my permission. And in case you're wondering, I don't permit it."

The replica raised Soul Eater and shifted the weight in his trembling legs. The sword felt so much heavier than he ever remembered. "Get out of my way, Axel."

"You're not strong enough to fight me," Axel pointed out. "She smashed your heart and by the looks of it, you haven't come close to recovering." His legs gave another betraying tremor, only widening Axel's grin. He hoped Axel was unaware of his difficulties with Dark Aura. "I heard you saved Sora and Naminé from Marluxia though. Good work. It would have been a lot more complicated for me if he had gotten control over them."

The replica shifted uneasily, trying to force his legs to stay still. Despite his better judgement, he had to ask, "How could you know that? You weren't there."

"Nobodies told me."

When no elaboration came, the replica rolled his eyes and challenged, "Look, I have a hard time believing you just came up here to chat. I thought you were on a schedule so if you're going to kill me, stop wasting time."

Axel did not answer. He cocked his head towards the door behind the replica. "They back there?" The replica instinctively took another step back and fixed him with a cold glare. Axel just laughed. "You are so funny, you know that? Don't worry, I'm not going to be paying them a visit anytime soon – I couldn't if I tried. Someone, maybe Naminé or that duck, has put up a barrier. But neither are you… you're coming with me."

The replica blinked. Axel was not laughing nor even smiling any more – his directive seemed serious. Scarcely able to believe his audacity, the replica raised his eyebrows, asking, "And why should I do that?"

"Because," Axel said slowly with a silky edge to his voice, "I'm certain Naminé is working on Sora's memories right now, erasing everything that happened in this castle to put him right again. Which means that in a couple of hours I'm going to be the only one left in any world who still cares you exist." The replica started to protest, yet Axel continued, "But if you come with me, I can give you a chance to be something more."

After Axel had made it very clear that there was no choice in the matter, the replica had hesitantly followed him deeper and deeper into the bowels of Castle Oblivion, regretting his decision more with each passing second. His strength was not recovered enough to even attempt to use Dark Aura again, and even if it was he was daunted by the possibility of trying. However, the replica knew that it was the only attack that could be strong enough to defeat him as Axel's ability to manipulate fire would make Dark Firaga near useless, and he felt no better about his chances at engaging Axel with his sword than he did on the twelfth floor.

He could see no other escape plan but to wait for his power to return, barring simply chucking Soul Eater at the back of Axel's head, dashing the other way and hoping for the best. However the replica was finding that he actually felt weaker, as if Axel was sucking the life out of him.

Yet despite his reservations, Axel's promise hung fresh in his mind: 'I can give you a chance to be something more'.

He was an artificial human and the fifteen years' worth of memories he had meant nothing. His recollections, faint and broken as they were, of friends, family, and the island he once called home all belonged to Riku. The way he saw it, except by dying he could fall no lower. Whatever Axel wanted to do with him had to at least be worth his interest; he had nowhere else to go.

"I told you to stop staring at me," Axel barked.

"_Sorry," _the replica thought, voice dripping with sarcasm._ "Your stupid hair is just so interesting that I can't help it. It's not like I have things on my mind."_ The replica's step faltered._ "We're getting way too close to where Riku was when his scent vanished."_

The replica wondered if Riku knew about his existence. The replica hoped not as that would be the last advantage he had over him. And then, how would he react to meeting his twin? Violently, the replica concurred. And he would probably be able to use Dark Aura without collapsing.

For a brief moment, the replica entertained the idea of convincing Riku that he was the fake, but failed to see the point. In any case, it was unlikely that Riku was unaware of him; if he was able to track Riku, then surely he was doing the same.

Axel was silent for a moment before quipping, "Y'know, even before we had Naminé rewrite you, you didn't have any problem speaking your mind. So, again, what's with the new attitude?"

Gritting his teeth, he immediately halted while Axel continued walking. A flare of darkness emanated from Soul Eater as all thoughts of ridiculous hair styles and promises were erased from his mind.

" '_Even before we had Naminé rewrite you…' everything about that line was meant to get to me,"_ he thought bitterly. However, painfully true as it was, he refused to be provoked further by such an obvious insult. _" 'We' -the idea that they were in control. 'Had Naminé' – that she was in danger and under their influence… and 'Rewrite you'… like what happened to me was some kind of joke."_

Fixed where he stood, he wondered why Axel bothered insulting him. It was obvious that Axel needed him for something. He knew that Axel was not tricking deeper into the castle just to kill him. That could have easily been accomplished back on the twelfth floor.

Did Axel realize that his words hurt? Did he care? He already knew the answer to the second question. Nobodies, according to Vexen, were unable to feel emotions due to their lack of hearts.

The replica could not fathom what it would be like to escape his emotions. Everything he felt, be it anger, fear, sorrow, or devotion to Naminé was so incomprehensibly powerful that it absolutely consumed him. Yet she, with only one word, had been able to smash his heart by overwhelming those emotions with her fear. By attacking Sora, he had disobeyed her wishes, and her power over his fake heart was enough to traumatize him into unconsciousness. He knew a real human with real feelings would never have been affected like that.

Axel had almost reached the end of the hall when he finally spoke out. "What do you want from me?"

It took Axel a moment to answer, as if he was now choosing his words carefully. "I have something that needs to be taken care of. You're going to help."

"I'm not a tool!" he shouted. "You don't have a right to me."

"In case you've forgotten, one of us created you. Without him you wouldn't be here."

"Without you, _he_ would be!" he retorted.

"That's right, isn't it? I had almost forgotten about that. Why bring that up?"

"I want to know more about the person who created me." The lie almost made him feel ill when he pictured the man's hungry eyes inspecting him; the less he knew about Vexen, he wagered, was probably for the best. But he felt that any understanding of Axel's thoughts would help him get a clearer picture of who he was trusting with his life.

Axel seemed taken aback for a moment before he turned around and started laughing. "Why do I somehow not believe that?"

The replica pressed him, "Why did you kill him?"

Folding his skeletal arms, Axel replied almost cheerfully, "Why did I kill him? He talked too much." The replica was about to roll his eyes when he saw Axel pause for the slightest of moments and shake his head slightly. The replica was taken aback - that marked the first time he had witnessed Axel display an almost human reaction to anything.

"And he was in the way," Axel said, shattering the previous image with a look of haughty indifference. "If you're smart, you'll learn that's not somewhere you want to be."

"You're sick." His image of Axel had become clear enough. He was unpredictable and manipulative. No longer was his curiosity overpowering his better sense. "Forget this, I'm leaving," he declared. "Whatever it is, I'm sure you can take care of it yourself."

The replica backed away slowly, carefully, in hopes that Axel would see his point and not give chase. Despite this, the replica knew at some point he would have to turn and run. He despised acting so weak and submissive, but knew it was his best chance at survival.

Axel just laughed. "You're not going anywhere without me and you know that. Besides, where exactly do you plan on going? Naminé's not going to go with you. You don't seem to understand this yet, so I'm going to lay it out simply for you: she doesn't want you. In fact, I'd say she couldn't care less about you."

The replica halted. "She does care."

Axel impatiently rolled his eyes. "No, she really doesn't. Did you know that she's a Nobody like me?"

"N-no she's not. Naminé isn't anything like you."

Groaning, Axel gave him a dismissive wave of his hand. "Sorry, but no. She's a Nobody, meaning she is physically incapable of caring whether you live or die." He sighed almost wearily, but the replica could see the harsh glint in his eyes and knew it was an act. "I know you have a bunch of nice childhood memories of her playing with you, but since you still can't get this through your head, I'm going to spell it out: this life you thought you had is fake. Not real. Got that memorized yet?"

"You're wrong…" he muttered, not sounding as convincing as he had hoped. "She does care."

Though they were no longer facing each other, he could practically see the smirk on Axel's face. "Only because your memories make you think she does. Memories we put there."

"She stayed with me while I was unconscious," he protested almost desperately.

"She was also the one who smashed your heart in the first place. Notice that she wouldn't do it to Sora, but had no qualms about playing with you," Axel harshly pointed out. "She probably didn't want to look bad in the Keyblade wielder's eyes after everything she'd done to him."

"Naminé is not like that!"

"Like I said, only because your heart tells you otherwise. Did she try to stop you when you left?"

He bit his lip. The replica recalled that moment all too clearly. Sora had shown concern for him, displayed compassion when he chose to walk away. Yet Naminé had stared at the ground, like she was ashamed to look at him any longer. The replica shook his head, as if that would dispel the memory.

"Sora…" he began, grasping for another option.

Axel laughed again; he was beginning to hate that sound. "You think Sora cares? I would too if you had the face of my best friend."

He shook his head. "No, Sora… I felt it. He wanted me to stay… but I couldn't. I could tell he cared – I know he did," he added again with some conviction.

"He cared all right, but was that concern for you or Riku? Tell me, was he even able to accept that you weren't him? Did he ever call you by name, or was it always Riku he wanted?"

"I don't have a name," snapped the replica. "What was he supposed to call me?"

"He never wanted _you_ to stay. He just liked the idea of having his friend back and was sad when it looked like he was leaving again. Even after all that, he probably couldn't even put it together that you weren't him. For all his power, he's not exactly bright, believe me, I should know. I bet he forgot about you the second you left." Axel glanced up at the ceiling and smiled. "Or at least he has by now."

Something within him snapped. "SHUT UP!"

Axel was not prepared for the attack and lost precious time in summoning his chakrams as the replica struck him across the chest. Axel fell back with a shout that was equally from pain and alarm. The replica leapt back to attack again. However, in a burst of fire Axel managed to summon his weapon and flung one of them at him. The replica deflected it with his blade and prepared to strike on Axel's now unarmed side.

His sword was raised in preparation to attack when Axel's left hand, the one that had thrown his weapon, seemed to catch on fire. And suddenly a torrent of flame flew towards him, swirling around, engulfing the area between him and Axel completely and surrounding him in a cyclone of fire. Before he could react, Axel lunged through the barrier he had created and struck him diagonally with his chakram from shoulder to hip. Soul Eater's blade caught in Axel's weapon and was wrenched from the replica's hands. Gasping in pain, he could do little as Axel kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into the wall of fire. He braced himself to be burnt, but the sensation never came as the flames dissipated around him Crying out, his skull smashed against the cold, hard floor. The rest of his body crumpled as it followed.

The replica had felt pain before. He had been beaten by Sora's Keyblade several times and had the wounds to show for it. Yet somehow this was different. It was like how he felt when Dark Aura backfired, only slightly weaker. Yet instead of receding, the pain remained, growing strong with each beat of his heart.

Trying to gather himself enough to fight back, he looked up to see Axel standing over him with the point of his chakram held only a finger's length from his throat. Soul Eater was lying past Axel's boots, too far for him to reach without Axel noticing. Even if he could summon it back, Axel would realize what he was doing and kill him before he had a chance to move. It was a race to see whether his own body or Axel was going to finish him off. He closed his eyes and waited.

"You won't remember this, but Larxene knocked you around exactly like that a little while ago." Axel's footsteps echoed right past him. The replica heard a clank as Axel kicked Soul Eater in his direction. "But since Naminé erased that, I'll let it slide."

Wordlessly his fingers closed around Soul Eater's handle, not moving from where he sat on the floor. He almost would have preferred to be incinerated over whatever was happening to his body.

"_No. Fight this. Stay awake. Get out alive." _He repeated the words over and over to himself until it simply became, _"Live."_

"We all learn from our mistakes, and today you've learned that you can't fight fire with sparks. Got it memorized?" he repeated almost playfully this time. The replica saw his eyes roam over his body as Axel cocked his head to the side and gestured towards him, "What's with you?"

"Nothing," the replica snapped. He shuddered and tasted blood. His lip had been split open by his teeth.

"I didn't hit you that hard."

"I said nothing!"

"… You have one minute."

The replica did not respond for a while. He just sat in silence and tried to control his breathing while Axel waited patiently. After what seemed like ages more than a minute, he sighed. His voice heavy and defeated, he inquired again, "What do you want from me?"

Axel sighed. "I already told you - I need something done. As difficult as you may find it to believe, it would be better if I didn't dirty my hands with this one. Logistics."

"I don't want to. Whatever it is, I don't want to."

"Actually you do want to," Axel argued. The replica was about to assert that he could make his own decisions when Axel interrupted. "Stop fighting with me – just shut up and listen: I meant what I said before. If you do this for me, well, all the better for you. Simple as that."

Scoffing though the action stabbed through his aching chest, he replied, "What could you possibly do for me?"

"_If you could make the room stop spinning and everything stop hurting, I'd love to hear about it."_

Axel shrugged. "If I were you, I'd take me up on that offer. I'm the only one here who has presented you with anything in return for your services and it's not like you have anywhere to go or anyone to turn to."

He considered it. "But, still…"

"What do you really have to lose? You have nothing to begin with. Think about this - no matter which world you go to, they're not going to accept a replica. Deep down, I know you know that and the longer you lie to yourself, the worse it's going to get." He paused, apparently to let those words sink into the replica's mind. It was not anything he had not already considered. "Not to mention the fact that, for obvious reasons, I can't exactly let you leave without my consent. Like Vexen, you know too much."

The replica said quietly, "So what, I'll do what you want and then you'll 'help' me by killing me?" The mantra abruptly stopped repeating himself. He took a deep breath and said even more softly in a voice he almost failed to recognize, "I don't want to die."

Leering smugly, Axel replied. "That's what I did for Vexen. Looks like elimination would almost be kind of me – it would spare you from so much thinking. But don't worry, I have something different in mind for you." He frowned. "I'm curious though, _why_ do you want to live? What's the point?"

He thought about his answer before replying. "I don't… I don't really know. I just feel like…" For a second time the replica pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as if that would somehow force the pain to subside. "I'm not ready to die yet. I want to know what'll happen to me first."

"Before or after you go?" Axel asked pointedly.

"Both," he said. He took a deep breath, "I just think that I want a chance, even if it's only for a minute."

Axel seemed genuinely interested, but with Axel that could have meant anything. "Chance to do what?"

"Be…"

Before the words could leave his lips, the pain reached its hilt and he screamed. The replica's heart constricted and the world seemed to stop. It felt as though a freezing, clawed hand had plunged into his chest and was trying to rip his heart from his body, and he was desperately trying to keep it inside.

The white room was quickly blackening as the darkness consumed it completely. He watched helplessly as the shadows raced along the corridor, striping the walls of their whiteness until there was nothing left but pitch black.

"Axel?" he cried desperately through gritted teeth as the image of the man in front of him began to twist and fade away.

His heart tightened again and despite knowing that they were far too many floors apart, he screamed for Sora's help. With a gasp, he looked down and saw tendrils of cold darkness curling around his ankles and wrists, slowing moving up his body. They wove, somehow more than just darkness, around his chest and arms, constricting him and holding his body in place. Clawing and kicking, he tried to free himself. However, the darkness had climbed over his throat and began to caress his face, almost lovingly, until it covered him completely in suffocating blackness.

Trapped in the crushingly cold embrace, he tried to breathe, to calm himself for just moment so that he could breathe. Then he heard a sound. It a laugh - light, sweet, and tinkly. It was a sound he knew all too well.

"Nam… Naminé?"he managed.

Suddenly the darkness receded in a burst of blinding light. The replica squeezed his eyes shut. He expected to see red through his eyelids, but only blackness greeted him.

"_What's going on?"_

The sounds hit him first. Water lightly lapping against the shore. Sand singing with the wind. The cry of a gull as it dove for a fish. Next came the warmth of dappled sunlight on his cheeks and the scent of briny air mixed with the sweetness of fresh flowers.

"Riku!

The replica felt his body move as he slowly sat up on the branch. His arms – no, Riku's arms - waved as a warm smile spread across his lips. "Hey, Naminé!"

The replica started at the mention of her name. There was no scent. It was impossible.

But there she was, running towards him with a smile he had never known. Her blond hair was cut shorter than it was in Castle Oblivion and shimmered hues of gold under the bright sun. She wore a light blue dress the matched her eyes. This was not the Naminé he had met in the Castle, but rather a young girl.

"_This is from my memories… but why am I seeing this now?"_ he tried to lift his head to look around, but it seemed locked in place. The replica understood – the boy in the memory was not moving and so he could not either. Somehow he was living out the memory.

Once she reached the tree, she took his hand and he helped herself on to the branch beside him, making sure that the bark would not scrape her bare legs. Naminé smoothed her dress and said quietly, "I knew I'd find you snoozing out here."

He laughed. "I'm not _snoozing._ I'm cloud watching." He lay back on the branch. It was wide enough to easily accommodate two tiny bodies as Naminé quickly joined him. "Look," he told her while waving his hand lazily at the sky. "Up there. If you look between the leaves and the Paopus, you can see some really cool shapes."

"Wouldn't it be easier to lie on the beach?"

Shaking his head quickly, Riku answered, "The sun is too bright. The leaves and stuff block it over here."

Naminé nodded and accepted this answer. Squinting, she pointed upwards. "That one – see it there? It looks like a fish!"

"Yeah… and there's a shark!" Riku gestured towards a long cloud with a fluffy spike on the back and two jutting rows of teeth.

"Please don't eat my fish," she giggled.

"It's a friendly shark," Riku reassured her.

"Oh good."

After a few more sea creatures appeared in the sky, Naminé pointed and exclaimed. "Look! A Paopu!"

"There are tons of Paopu's." Riku gestured lazily at the yellow fruits hanging from the tree.

"No, not _those _ones! In the sky! Look!"

Riku followed her gaze and saw a five pointed cloud floating beside what he had declared a whale with wings. "It looks like a starfish to me."

She shook her head and began to pull something out of the pocket of her dress. "No it's a Paopu – see!" In her hands was a sewn, yellow pillow with five points and a leafy stem. It fit easily into his palm as she passed it to him. "I made this. I know a Paopu when I see one."

"Wow, that's really good," he told her, impressed.

"It's a lucky charm," she explained.

"How do you know it's lucky?"

Naminé stared at him blankly for a minute before shrugging. "I just have a good feeling."

Riku leaned back once again, this time holding her charm up to the sky. Amidst the real Paopu fruits and the one in the clouds, it blended in perfectly. "You're right," he admitted while turning to face her, "it is a Paopu."

Naminé smiled and was about to reply when her brow abruptly furrowed. "Look."

Riku turned back to the sky and stifled a gasp. Just beyond the Paopu were a series of thick, dark clouds. The previously blue sky was blackening and he could feel tiny raindrops spattering on his face. Not too far away, thunder bellowed and rumbled. Naminé clutched his hand in alarm.

"Flash storm," Riku observed quickly. He passed the charm back to her and she hugged it against her chest.

Naminé sat up and pulled on his arm, pointing towards the beach shack. "Let's go inside." Her voice was quick and anxious. "I don't want my charm to get wet."

Riku shook his head and took her hand in his. "No, wait. Let's stay out just a little longer. I like the rain."

She pulled her hand away but did not move. "Alright," Naminé told him tentatively. "But not too long – it's dangerous."

"It'll be fine," Riku assured her as another thunderclap. Naminé squeaked and covered her ears. At once the clouds opened up, spilling torrents of rain down on them. Naminé reached her soaking hand out to find Riku's. "Okay, maybe we should go inside now."

Without another word, Naminé took off running with Riku being pulled along. Using an arm to shield his eyes from the rain, Riku could only see Naminé's back and trusted her to lead him off the islet and across the bridge. He could feel his sandals slipping on the soaked bridge as waves and rain rolled around it. "Head for the shack!" he cried. The shack was just off the bridge and on raised land. Though old it was well made and could easily protect them.

Suddenly he heard a scream and he was thrust painfully to the ground. His chin and chest smacked against the wooden beams and he nearly rolled over the side. Ahead lay Naminé struggling to get up. She shouted something at him but a sudden gale shook the bridge and ripped the words from her mouth. Riku grabbed her hand and wordlessly yanked her across the bridge. He wrenched open the door to the shack and all but threw her inside as another blast of wind slammed the heavy door behind him.

Riku leaned back against the side of the shack, panting with a hand over his heart. He shook out his hair with his hands and rung out his shirt. Through a hole in the wooden door he could see the storm ravaging the trees on the island and whipping the sand and water into giant waves. "Good thing we got inside when we did," he remarked. Expectantly he waited for Naminé to answer. When he heard nothing, he quickly looked at her in alarm.

She was crouched on the floor of the shack, scraped knees pulled up to her face and shaking. Riku knelt down beside her. "Are you okay? Is it your knees?"

"It's not that," she whispered between sobs. Before Riku could enquire further, she pulled back her legs to reveal empty hands. "I lost my lucky charm. I lost it when I fell on the bridge and now it's gone forever!"

"Oh." Riku did not know what else to say. "Naminé, I'm so sorry."

_Go and get it. _

From the moment that Naminé arrived, the replica had been aware only of the memory. He was Riku again. He was a little boy who had been spending a day with his best friend when a storm hit. There was no Axel, no Castle Oblivion, no Sora, and certainly no replica. Only Riku and Naminé. But then the replica heard that voice. There wasn't supposed to be any voice.

_Go and get it._

The replica, suddenly aware of himself, tried to fight off the inevitable and warn Riku of the change. But the memory seemed to be fighting back, forcing the replica's own consciousness into oblivion. _Sleep_, it seemed to be telling him. _Watch_. The replica struggled it was no use as his mind was pushed out. The memory was going to play out exactly as it always had.

"I'll go and get it!" cried Riku, leaping to his feet. "Wait here! I'll be right back!"

"Riku wait!" she cried for all the good it would do. Riku had already wrenched open the door and was racing outside.

He sped for the bridge with hopes that the charm was still on top. But as he reached it, Riku's heart fell when he saw that the bridge was bare. The charm was somewhere in the churning water below.

Suddenly something caught the corner of his eye. He glanced down and with a gasp saw the charm floating on the waves close to shore. Racing off the bridge, he leapt down the shore ledge and ran across the wet sand, ignoring how it cold it felt on his feet. Cautiously he waded into the water and tried to reach for it, but as the waves rumbled, they would drag it further and further away. Going after it, Riku had walked out so far that his head was barely bobbing above the water as his toes struggled to find sand to stand on.

"Please, just a little closer…"

He strained his fingers and nearly brushed it. Frustrated, he swam further until he could no longer touch the shore and was treading water to stay afloat. Riku screamed as the wave curled around him and tore the air from his lungs. It slammed him deep into the water and on to the sand below where it held him. Viciously he fought for the surface and air. Gasping, he breached the surface just as another wave forced him back under.

Over and over waves crashed down on him and his exhausted body nearly buckled from shock. Salt water stung his throat, choking him. Each cough caused him to gulp down more water until he could scarcely breathe. He tried to paddle, but the waves would push him under. He became so disoriented within seconds that he could not tell where sky, sea, and land were. Wave upon wave bore down on him until he was thrust against a rock. Another wave crashed against him, forcing him further against the rocks, threatening to drag him down. He tried to climb over the rocks to safety, but they were too high and his tiny fingers scraped helplessly against the hard surface as the waved tossed him around.

Suddenly he spotted something small and yellow being slammed into the rocks not far from him. It had to be Naminé's charm. Riku lunged for it, but was knocked back by a wave. His head clanged against something hard and he fought to keep conscious. Reaching up, Riku wrapped his hand around something cold, slick, and very familiar. It was the metal ladder he used to climb up from the ocean and onto the islet after taking a swim.

The desire to climb to safety was powerful, but he stayed there with his arms wrapped tightly around the ladder for support as wave after wave tore away at his fleeting strength until finally the Paopu charm was close enough for him to reach out and grab it.

Clutching it tightly against his chest, Riku carefully ascended the slippery ladder. He knew that if he fell, it would be unlikely that he could find the ladder again. After what seemed like ages, Riku pulled himself over and on to land. Shivering and coughing, he hugged Naminé's charm as if it could give him warmth and protection from the storm. Riku was unable to tell if the droplets running down his cheeks were from the rain, the waves, or were his own tears.

The wind ripped through the leaves of his and Naminé's Paopu tree and the rain beat down on him. Riku was too weak to move, and so he just lay motionless in the soaked ground, hoping that the storm would pass soon. Shivers racked his body and he was afraid that the cold and exhaustion would make him fall asleep and not wake up. He had to give Naminé back her charm… otherwise she would be so sad…

Then he heard voices. They were shouting, frantic. Before he could understand what was happening, he was scooped up off the ground and into strong arms. People were screaming his name and he wanted to ask what was going on, but the slight warmth of the person who held him was enough to make his eyes droop. They were yelling even louder, but he did not know why.

Riku felt Naminé's charm slip between his fingers and he was not strong enough to keep hold. The person carrying him started to walk, but Riku used the last of his fading strength to weakly whisper, "No." He stretched his fingers towards the charm, though he could never reach it. Suddenly Naminé's charm was shoved hurriedly into his chest. Finally satisfied, he could no longer fight his exhaustion and let peaceful unconsciousness claim him.

Minutes later, Riku awoke for only a moment. People were rushing around him, but their faces and words were blurred. He didn't know where he was, who they were, or what was happening to him. All he knew was that he had to get to Naminé. One was trying to touch his forehead. Weakly he swatted to push her away.

"Nam…eh," he muttered gravelly, barely recognizing his own voice, while holding her charm tightly in his fists. He coughed a few times, each one feeling like a kick to his stomach. His arms were pinned down and forced back under the covers. Riku was feeling crushed beneath the weight of all the blankets. It was reminding him uncomfortably of the rough waves, only warmer. His head and chest felt tight and his throat was sore. He could not stop coughing.

Something warm was placed over Riku's head. It was another hand, tiny and familiar. "Don't worry," a voice he knew so well told him "I'm here now." That simple gesture seemed to erase all of his fear and pain. He knew it would be alright. Sleep came quickly after.

When Riku awoke next, he could not tell how much time had passed since his rescue of Naminé's charm. The sunlight shining through the white curtains told him that the storm had passed. With the various familiar toys, photos, and furniture now he recognized that he had been sleeping in his own room. He was pleased to be somewhere recognizable after the violent confusion of the storm. He felt something in his hand. Tracing the contours lightly with his fingertips, Riku knew it was Naminé's charm without removing it from under the blankets.

Gently he turned his aching head around to see if he was alone. He wasn't. His heart was elated when he saw Naminé sitting in a chair at his bedside. He had almost forgotten that it had been her who had comforted him before. Naminé's head was bowed; she looked tired. Riku reached out and gently brushed her folded hands with his fingertips.

"Riku?" Naminé whispered, surprised that he was finally awake. Riku saw that her eyes were red. At first he thought she was merely sleepy, but soon saw tearstains on her soft cheeks.

"Nam…eh… why you… cying?" he said. The words had been very hard for him to get out and immediately he succumbed to a set of body shaking coughs. Naminé had gotten off her chair and was kneeling beside him now, if only to be that much closer to him, and was taking his hand in her own. She waited for him to finish.

"Riku, why would you do that for me? That was stupid and reckless!" She turned her head away and Riku saw fresh tears fall down her cheeks. He felt awful – he had wanted to make Naminé happy, not cry.

"I didn't want you… be sad," said Riku in answer to her question. He never knew what to do when people cried. It made him feel awkward and he just wanted them to stop.

"You mean a lot more to me than a silly charm!" snapped Naminé. Tears were sticking to her long eyelashes. Riku wanted to wipe them away but didn't have the strength. "If anything had happened to you… if you had left me all alone… you were hurt so badly. You nearly drowned."

Riku tried to sit up, just to prove to her he was not really as weak as he seemed, but his vision swam from the sudden movement and he sank back down. "No! Nothing bad would ever… happen to you, Naminé. I don't…." Frown lines creased his young forehead. "I want to protect you forever."

To his surprise, Naminé giggled. "Forever and ever, Riku? Could you really do that? No matter what?"

Feeling better now that Naminé was no longer crying over him, Riku nodded. "Nobody will ever hurt you… I promise." Clutching her charm tightly, he removed it from under the blankets and held it out to her. Naminé gasped and Riku could not help but feel smug. "Saved it for you."

Naminé glanced at the charm, then at Riku's face. Gently she pushed the charm back towards it. "No, you hold on to it. It'll bring you luck and keep you safe…"

Riku smiled warmly and began to tell Naminé how he would treasure it forever.

Naminé opened her mouth to speak again, but instead of words a horrible screeching sound came out. Her expression was exactly as before, soft and gentle, but Naminé's voice began to intertwine with the sound and echo strangely until it distorted completely, becoming rapidly louder and softer. Flashes of light began to intercept the memory and her words were no longer intelligible. They became horrifically merged with the voice of another.

Suddenly he was no longer Riku, but the replica once again. He was thrust from the memory into a sort of disconnected state, as two entirely distinct individuals viewed the scene through the same eyes – the child Riku in the memory and the replica himself. The replica's heart – now separate from Riku's – tightened painfully. It had not been the strange flashes that had alerted him to his own consciousness – it was the voice.

The voice belonged to Vexen.

"Make him feel, Naminé." Vexen laughed. "Make him believe with all of his artificial heart that he has a reason to fight for you."

Then there was another; a high-pitched, slithery female. "If there's nothing good in the real Riku's memories, just make something up. Let him think he's a good little hero if you have to, but make sure it works. We can't have the toy breaking on us."

"Do you really think Riku would just jump back into the water for the charm?" Axel asked abruptly. "Seems kind of stupid to me. If the replica notices something's off, we'll have a huge problem on our hands."

Larxene laughed. "Don't worry, Axel. We're making it so that the replica will be getting some… outside persuasion to grab it. Besides who cares what the replica thinks? These memories are going to be all it knows, so it will never notice something like that. Besides, we have to make it believe that Naminé is the only thing worth living for – we've got it to the point where it would slice off its own arms with a grin if it thought that would make her laugh. A risky little dive in her name will certainly do the trick to hammer this point home."

Vexen seemed to ponder this. "Even so… Naminé! Can you make so that the replica will be pushed back if it starts to consider this memory too deeply?"

"Y-yes," she whispered faintly.

Vexen sounded pleased. "This is the replica's most important possession. It will be on this memory that the foundation of its entire personality will be built."

"There's no denying that it would give its life for you in a heartbeat – and what do you do in return?" cackled Larxene. "My, my, you certainly are a little witch."

Next the replica heard Marluxia, cold and emotionless, mix eerily with Larxene. "But it's still not good enough, Naminé. Look into the memories of Kairi with Sora. That's how it needs to be. In order for it to properly test the Keyblade Master, it needs to be jealous. Angry at Sora. Allow it to feel everything more powerfully than even the real Riku could ever imagine…"

The voices were all coming out of Naminé's mouth. Her comforting expression never changed though the inflections of the speakers did. She too was speaking, though her words were completely and jarringly obscured by The Organization. Child Riku never noticed the change, still smiling happily as Naminé detailed how they would stay together forever. The replica could only watch helplessly as the scene that had been the one of the most prominent and powerful of his memories began to unravel.

The voices faded and the darkness returned. It appeared like an endless pit slowly devouring Riku's bedroom, erasing everything inside. The two children continued their conversation, neither noticing the voices nor the darkness.

Suddenly the darkness reached Naminé and she began to disintegrate into black particles while still giggling along with Riku. The replica knew the memory was fake. He knew the situation was impossible. Yet watching Naminé fall into blackness without even acknowledging it ruptured something inside of him.

"Naminé!" he cried, somehow taking control of Riku's body and lunging towards her. His hands passed right through her.

Naminé just smiled. "As long as you remember me, I'll never leave your heart." And then she, along with the rest of the bedroom, began to fade away. Desperately he reached for her again, calling her name.

"_It's not real. This isn't real. She was never there and neither were you."_ The replica knew this was true, but then why, he thought, did it feel like he had lost her all over again?

Within the darkness he could hear nothing besides the frantic beating of his own heart. In desperation, he tried to run, tried to scream, tried to see his two own hands in front of his face, but found that he could not move. Or rather, there was nothing to move.

"_What happened to my body?!" _

He had become nothing. Only darkness existed where he once stood. The replica could still hear a heart pounding, but now knew that it could not be his. But how was that possible? A blind terror overtook him. _"Please! Someone! Anyone! What's happening to me?" _ The heart's agitated beat grew louder and louder as the replica mentally pleaded for help.

"_Is this it? Am I going to be like this forever?"_ Knowing he would be screaming had he still possessed the ability, the replica tried to calm himself.

Suddenly something appeared in the distance. It was a light, pulsing and weak, though growing wuickly in size and intensity. Brighter and more radiant it grew as it began to devour the blackness at the center until it resembled a glowing doorway. The light would have blinded him if he had possessed eyes, but a as a spirit, the replica found it strangely comforting.

The replica felt a tug towards the light. He panicked as the sudden motion and struggled to fight against it, but without a body to move the replica could do little but accept that something else was controlling him now.

Now floating closer to the source, the replica realized that it was not a doorway as he had thought, but instead a metallic contraption resembling the closed petals of a flower. Confused, the replica focused on the center petal of the flower, which was growing ever closer.

"_What is that thing supposed to be? Marluxia's torture chamber?"_ The flower was so close now that he could make out a red blur hovering within it. Expecting his ride to come to a violent halt once they collided, the replica attempted to brace what little part of him was left. However, he floated right through it.

Once he recovered from the shock, the replica took in the blur's features and felt his spirit lift.

"_Sora?"_

A surge of relief soared through him as the vision became more focused; the red blur became Sora's baggy shorts and the yellow solidified into enormous sneakers. Sora's spiked brown hair took form and his thin arms and legs became more visible. His eyes were darting rapidly behind closed eyelids while his breathing was soft and even.

"_Sora, what's going on?" _The replica watched Sora's tranquil sleep closely. With no head, he could not move to look around. He was close enough now that, had he borne a nose, they would have been touching. _"Sora, I know you probably don't remember me anymore… But I want you to know that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I did, and I know I don't deserve to ask you for help now, but… please. I - I don't know what to do and I'm just… scared."_

The replica watched for a subtle twitch, a slowed flutter of his eyes, or a shift in breathing that would give him any indication that Sora could hear his plea.

"_Please,"_ the replica begged again._ "Please help me. I need you."_

'_Idiot. He can't hear you.'_

The replica froze. That voice… it must have been his own rational side taking control, but for a second he thought the voice had been Sora's. But that was impossible. The voice had come from within whatever was left of him and Sora had not moved.

"_Sora?"_ the replica tentatively asked. But Sora slept on without so much as a stir.

The warmth and light that seemed to envelope the boy increased as the replica was slowly drawn towards him. The replica gave up trying to fight the pull and simply allowed it to urge him forward until his invisible spirit merged perfectly into Sora.

Instantly Sora's radiant light embraced him in a protective shell, gently warming and healing the fear that had overtaken him. The replica gasped at the sudden peace he felt. No closer to understanding what was happening to him, the replica let himself relax. Even if Sora was unaware of what he had done, the replica was grateful all the same.

"_Thank you, Sora."_

'_No, thank you, replica.'_

With Sora's words, the heart began to beat with even more eagerness than before. The warmth, the safety he had felt vanished and was replaced by something cold and sinister. The replica could sense Sora's light being snuffed out. The scent that remained was clearly Sora's but somehow wrong.

It was horribly wrong.

"_Who's there?"_

The scene before him dissolved with a flash; Sora was replaced was replaced by a stark whiteness as the replica floated along the corridors of Castle Oblivion. Formless and light, as if in flight, he watched helplessly as he drifted past statues, over Heartless that paid him no head, and through doorways. The rooms seemed empty and silent until a sound, like a whisper encircled him. He knew he had to have heard it wrong, but the voice – Sora's voice – had returned.

'_So close…'_ the voice crooned hungrily.

"_Sora?"_

Sora's voice, whatever it was, it ignored him. The speed at which he was floating seemed to accelerate as the heart beat louder and faster.

"_Stop!"_ ordered the replica despite knowing that the voice, if it was Sora's, did not seem inclined to listen to him now any more than it did a minute ago. _"Sora, where are we going?"_

'_I'm not Sora.' _The tone sounded agitated.

The replica was startled – the voice was identical to Sora's, though lacking all of its usual kindness. _"So who are you then? And what do you want with Sora?"_

'_Do you really think it's worth your time trying to save him from me? If it's forgiveness you want, you won't find it with him.'_

The voice was reminding him of Axel in the worst way. Snarling, the replica answered, _"I'll back off when you tell me what you want with him!"_

'_Him? Nothing.'_

At that the replica found repose. At least he knew Sora was safe.

'_It's you I'm after.'_

* * *

I have a confession: the next two chapters are actually the 2/3rds remaining of the 'Beast of Chapter 1' after it was split into multiple parts at random line breaks that I thought would be acceptable for keeping reader-attention. I think Ch1 in all its glory was originally something like 65 pages, which I'm pretty sure would scare off most readers.

To be honest, it was scaring off me.

Also, the conversation between young Riku and Naminé is one of my favourite parts of the chapter for a weird reason. You might notice that Naminé first asks why he isn't cloud watching on the beach, to which Riku first pauses before coming up with a reason. Later, when questioned about why her charm is lucky, Naminé blanks before simply concluding that she has a good feeling. Finally, once the storm appears, Riku replies that it is a 'flash storm' – words that a five year old probably wouldn't know (even one as smart as Riku!). So why do I like this? The vision I had in my head when writing this chapter was of the Organization forcing Naminé to implant the memories in live time, correcting her as they went along. For instance, Riku has to be out on the island in order for Naminé to trip, but someone mentions that it would make more sense to be on the beach. For the aforementioned reason, they are corrected and Naminé alters the memory to fit. There are a bunch of other things like this in this section, but these are my favourites.

Also, the scene when little Riku wakes up is very similar to the situation in the prologue.

I forgot to mention – I'm pretty much trying to write this story as if it were an actual KH game – with loveably-cheesy dialogue and everything. For example, when the replica is walking behind Axel, after the cut scene, you'd get a prompt saying "tilt the analogue stick to keep up with Axel. Tilt it farther to run." Then the fight against the Heartless would be a fight tutorial with Axel later serving as a mini-tutorial boss to teach you how to block, jump, and dodge. He would say helpful stuff like "Try to block this!" or "That all you got?"

Lol

Also, please review if you enjoyed this chapter in all its ridiculous-longness.


	3. The Chamber of Waking

Omg it's finally done. Fun fact - I actually had a good hunk of this story done right after Birth By Sleep came out and intended to begin uploading this before the Japanese release of 3D. However, I was so unhappy with this chapter, that I held off until now. I figured that if I split the chapter (which, lengthwise, had to be done) and posted the first part, it would motivate me to actually stop hating it and getting it done. And, after multiple complete rewrites, I'm finally okay with it.

I just want to give a big thank you to everyone who reviewed! All of your compliments and tips really helped and, as this is my first story, I am extremely grateful!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and Final Fantasy are the properties of their respective owners.

Edit: Just noticed that a sentence was left trailing! Why do I never notice these things when I'm editing, but the second it gets posted it's the most obvious thing in the world?

* * *

**2**

The Chamber of Waking

"_Get the hell out of my head!"_ demanded the replica, attempting to conceal the terror rippling through him at the boy's casual declaration.

"_You don't have a head,'_ Sora's voice acknowledged in a bored drawl before tauntingly adding, _'I'm in your heart.'_

"_Then get the hell out of there!" _Furious when the boy ignored him, the replica mentally screamed, _"I'm not screwing around with you!"_

The replica felt the air shift as if a sudden chill was passing through. _'I'll be out of here soon enough, but it's not like you'll notice. The tattered remains of your heart aren't going to last much longer. And that's all the better for me.'_

"_Tattered remains?" _he said shakily, his thoughts returning to Naminé and Riku after the storm, moments before the memory began to unravel before his eyes. The harsh voices of Vexen, Axel, and the others remained so fresh in his mind that it felt like he was hearing them for the first time. With an inner shudder at the insinuations the boy was making, he steeled himself and snarled, "_Who are you? What are you talking about?"_

Within his own mind he heard a derisive laugh. _'Why don't you try and remember?'_

Before the replica could react, their combined energy reached an abrupt halt in front of a blank wall that was, by all appearances, indistinguishable from the others decorating the castle floors. The replica could sense nothing behind it that would mark it as anything other than a dead end, yet felt his passenger shiver with anticipation. With no further explanation, he forced the pair through the wall like nothing more than a shadow.

As long as the replica had been awake, the castle had always appeared magnificent to the eye yet cold and foreboding to the touch. He recognized it for what it was - a prison. But the room that now lay before him was alive. The walls themselves shone silvery white with a brilliance that paled the drab backdrop he had known by comparison. Dazzling chains that seemed to be fabricated out of pure light pulsed along the floor and up the walls, until the beams reached emblems that resembled a heart atop a cross. An ornate, shining throne that nearly scraped the ceiling stood at the far end from the room with its back facing the replica and his passenger. For the first time, the he truly recognized why the fortress was known as Castle Oblivion.

Immediately the replica felt a strange flickering of energy in the air. Magic. A powerful enchantment rushed through the air as if it sensed the undesired visitors.

"_Where am I? I've never seen this room before,"_ the replica admitted to himself, suddenly realizing how little he actually knew about the castle that had been his only home.

The voice grunted and reproached, _'You wouldn't have. Very few members of the Organization know about this place, and even if more did, it's not possible to enter here except under certain circumstances. Circumstances that the old man has finally made in my favour.'_

Disgusted with how open his thoughts were to this boy, he nonetheless had to ask, _"So what is this place?"_

The boy was mute for a moment before responding. _'If I had to guess, I'd say the reason for this castle's existence.'_

As their spirit neared the throne, the replica felt his passenger's exhilaration build. So focused on his own questions, the replica had fallen completely blind as to what was happening to him. Of all the scenarios regarding the throne room's inhabitant that could have played out in his mind, this would never have been one of them.

'_Like I said, I'm here for you. Well, you…'_ continued the voice in a tone that could scarcely conceal its feverish excitement, _'and him.'_

Atop the throne, head bowed slightly in sleep, was seated a boy. He was so small, despite appearing to be about Sora's age, that his feet barely brushed the edge of the massive throne. His hair was straw-coloured, spiked in a slight wave atop his head. He wore the most bizarre assortment of clothing that the replica had ever encountered, sporting a short-sleeved jacket that was half white and half black with a pleated red collar. The pendant on his jacket appeared to the symbol that appeared on the walls, holding it together in a cross-shaped clasp. On his left shoulder perched an armoured plate.

Unlike Sora, whose face had shown the unmistakable signs of dreaming, this boy seemed frozen, like a statue. The replica surely would have thought him dead had there not been a small flickering of light around him.

Gazing down on him, the replica abruptly solved the mystery of one of the bright scents he had been tracking. Without his body, it had been impossible to sense him. But on the twelfth floor he had been able to detect it.

As they neared him, the magic in the air began to spark. The replica felt the tension rise, though his passenger scarcely paid it any heed.

'_A heart imbued with artificial darkness,'_ the boy mused to himself, _'and here lies another of pure light. Two shattered hearts, two lifeless bodies… If they are to clash by my hand… will I be left holding the blade?'_

With a sudden jerk, the pair began descending on the sleeping boy. Horrified, the replica realized what his passenger intended to do.

"_Stop!" _Summoning as much strength as he could muster, the replica began to fight against the rapid descent. For an agonizing second, his efforts did little to slow their decline towards the boy's chest, yet he could feel his passenger straining against him until they came to hover mere inches from where his heart would be. _"You already have me! Isn't that enough?!"_

'_I'm afraid that offering up your life won't buy you as much as you think – I already own you. Besides, all of my work is useless without the both of you.'_

"_I won't let you hurt him!" _the replica cried. His mind nearly buckled with the effort.

The voice gave an icy chuckle in reply. _'If you want to waste your last seconds fighting me, go ahead. It won't change anything.'_

"_What do you even want from me? I don't have anything to give you."_

'_Do you like being so weak? Does it fill you with rage to know that I'm strong enough to kill you with such little effort? Only the strong deserve to live. When I take your strength, mine grows, and it is by gaining strength that I can become more. If your life was worth anything, you would be able to fight back. But you can't because you do not deserve life. That has always been your destiny, replica, to bend to the will of others so that they can become stronger. You should be honoured that your final sacrifice will be to serve me.' _

The replica knew there was no hope left for him; the little strength he had was fading away as he struggled. His body had vanished, his heart splintered, and his mind was overtaken. But the sleeping boy on the throne still had a chance.

His passenger gave a chilling chuckle. The replica shut him out and focused on pulling back. Despite his weakness, he could feel the other boy straining against him. He knew that it was a battle to see who would give in first. He could sense that the boy's strength far exceeded his, but the replica was certain that he could hold him off for just another second, another minute, anything to buy the boy more time.

"_Please wake up,"_ he pleaded despite knowing that his passenger was attending to his every word, _"I can't hold him off forever."_

The voice laughed hysterically, causing the replica's grasp to slip. _'He's never going to wake up. I've waited ten years for this moment and can wait a minute longer for your heart to decay.'_

Struggling to regain control, the replica realized his chance. The boy had given his advantage away when he claimed that he somehow forced his existence to reside within the replica's heart; a heart that had been granted unprecedented mastery over darkness. Calling upon the darkest deepest within, the replica beckoned forth a torrent of darkness that eroded his heart from within. The excruciating agony he now associated with darkness scorched through him, but he was prepared for it and therefore able to control the tide enough that it would not consume him. His passenger, he trusted, would be unaware of the new repercussion he had recently discovered and be powerless to survive it. His assault lasted only a second as he could endure it no longer, and the replica, utterly spent, inwardly sighed in relief at his victory.

Sora's voice erupted in hysterical laughter. _'You honestly thought that could stop me? I hear every one of your thoughts, witnessed your every emotion, and it is only by my allowance that use can use such abilities. It's not because of Riku that you have become what you are. I am your darkness.'_

"_Who…"_ the replica began weakly, unable to muster enough strength to go on. His last flickers of strength dissipated, absorbed by the one who now owned his heart. _"Who are you?"_

'_You knew it once, before they broke you. I want to hear you say it before I destroy you.'_

"_You're giving yourself far too much credit,"_ slighted the replica in an effort to regain his voice. _"Except for what happened ten minutes ago, I don't remember anything other than what the Organization put in my head." _

There was a tense pause while the other boy seemed to mull over his options. The fact that something finally was going in his favour almost made the replica break into laughter. He tried to sense if there had been any change in the sleeping boy's condition, but to his disappointment, found him as silent as ever.

"_Is it 'Evil Sora'?"_ he offered while realizing that this banter was winning some extra time._ "If you want something else, you're going to have to take it up with Naminé. I would say Vexen, but he's dead. And Axel isn't great with straight answers."_

The replica was shocked when he could actually feel the other boy seething. _'I know what you're doing.'_ The voice cut into his thoughts like a dagger. _'It's funny, I thought you'd actually be smarter than Ventus. But it seems I was wrong."_ Without warning the replica felt his thoughts being choked out of his mind, strangled by the sudden darkness rising within him. Cruelly, Sora's voice addressed him, _'I'll tell you my name, replica, because I want it to hear it from you. I want it to be the last thought you have before I sever your heart. I want to hear you scream it when I take everything from you.'_

The replica struggled against the torture, refusing to comply as he felt the last remnants of his heart shatter.

The boy whispered, _'Vanitas.'_

The replica felt a chill course through him. Vanitas. He was right – the replica did know that name. He could feel the memory lurking deep within him as if it was trying to resurface, but was being held back by a glass ceiling. He could see it lying just below the surface of the lies the Organization had manufactured, but he was unable to break through and touch it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to touch it.

'_Do you remember me now, replica?'_ taunted Vanitas. Knowing that all of his thoughts were privy to Vanitas' whims, the replica refused to give him the satisfaction of a response. He could, however, feel a surge of sadistic enjoyment as Vanitas tightened his grip on the replica's heart. Overcome with Vanitas' loathing as it strangled his mind, the replica tried to focus his thoughts on Naminé, Sora, even Axel, so that his final thoughts would be anything other than Vanitas. In desperation, he happened to sense the enchantment he had picked up on earlier. Noticing a change, he glanced beyond the sleeping boy for the first time. Inwardly the replica smiled.

"_Hey… 'Darkness'."_

Distracted, Vanitas asked curtly, _'What?'_

"_I don't think they like you."_

While they had been occupied, thousands of blazing orbs, created from pure light, had encircled them. Each orb flared radiantly, as if each one contained a heart of its own. They began to hum ominously like a great choir singing a requiem. He felt Vanitas roughly release him from suffocation as his own emotions flared; the replica could sense it was fear.

'_She couldn't have…' _he trailed off in disbelief. _'This sort of protective spell should have been beyond her. Very well, Master,'_ Vanitas sneered on his final word, stretching it out in a tone of pure revulsion and malice. _'I'd brace yourself – this is going to hurt. _

At Vanitas' directive, the air itself seemed to ignite as brilliant rays of light engulfed them completely. Vanitas began to scream as if he was being scorched alive. Hearing Sora's voice in such agony almost gave him pause, but he quickly shut it out. Vanitas deserved to burn. The light seared him as well, but it caused nowhere near the pain that his own darkness had inflicted earlier. The replica felt certain he was becoming far too accustomed to excruciating agony.

The replica knew it was finally over. He was a creature brought into the darkness. He was never meant to know the purity of light. Vanitas had done what he wanted, though the replica was at least grateful that he would no longer be able to reap the reward. Feeling his heart ebbing away, the replica felt the light wash over him, stripping away the last of his strength.

"_I'm… fading… Fading away… into the light."_

"You won't fade," a kind voice reassured him

"_Naminé?"_ it sounded like her, yet slightly different. Nonetheless, the replica knew it had to be her. Heart swelling with gratitude, he whispered, _"You came back."_

"You can't fade," she continued. "There's no power that can defeat you – not the light, not the dark. So don't run from the light – and don't fear the darkness. Because both will make you stronger," she added definitively.

The replica heard his own voice, aloud, reply tentatively, "Make me stronger? Darkness too?"

"_I'm not talking… who else is here with me?"_ stiffening, the replica could see only one solution. _"No. It can't be him. Not Riku. Not now. Not with her!"_

"Yeah. Strength that's yours," Naminé told Riku with a gentle emphasis. "The darkness inside your heart – it's vast and it's deep… but if you can truly stare into it and never try to look away, you won't be afraid of anything again."

At those words, a calming glow surrounded him the way Sora had done. But the replica was too distraught to feel any sort of comfort; his worst fear had come true. He now had to witness, abandoned and helpless, as Riku took his place in Naminé's life.

Suddenly the replica felt his spirit rising, floating away from the light emanating from Naminé's voice. Frantic, he tried to reach her, screaming, _"Naminé! Wait! Please, Naminé!"_

She, of course, paid him no mind. Riku was there instead. He was all that mattered now.

The voices, Riku's and Naminé's, began to fade until they became mere whispers. Stricken, the replica could barely hear their final speech to each other.

"Can I face them?" asked Riku, sounding confident and strong.

Naminé replied. "You don't want to?"

"You know I do. Of course."

"_Stay away from her!" _the replica screamed, knowing they could never hear. _"Naminé, please…" _he begged._ "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"_

There was silence as the replica opened his eyes.

"Naminé…" he muttered through barely open lips. His throat felt dry and raw. Coughing, he saw his breath mist on the floor. A white floor. Castle Oblivion. He was back where he started. His breath meant that he had a mouth and the fact that he could see it indicated that he had eyes. The pain and exhaustion in his limbs was suddenly welcomed.

"_I'm awake. No, I'm alive,"_ the replica thought in astonishment. He took several deep shuddering breaths while trying to keep the coughs down. _"How is that even possible?"_

The answer was obvious. Naminé. When comforting Riku she must have unwittingly healed him enough with her light to allow his survival. He was glad for that, though overwhelmed with disgust for what he had witnessed. Unconciously he reached into his pocket and took out the charm Namine had given him in the memory. Though it was a fake undoubtaby manufactured by the Organization, its sheer presence brought him ease.

He was lying on his stomach with his head painfully twisted to the side. Everything ached, but he was so grateful to have his body back that he scarcely noticed. Twisting his head, he noticed Axel standing a little off to the side. Axel was staring at him with a wide gaze, like he thought the replica was going to burst into flames at any second.

"What the hell was that?"

"What happened?" demanded the replica, shakily using his arms to prop himself into a sitting position. With his free hand he wiped away a tear that had formed at the corner of his eye. "What's going on?"

"You tell me. One second you're arguing with me and the next you're going into a fit. Apparently you were talking to Naminé," he derided coldly. "You were just sitting there, creepily, with your eyes shut, screaming for help and coughing. Then you shut up for a few minutes before suddenly crying to her over some charm." Axel gestured to the object in his lap.

Stunned, the replica tightened his grip on the charm until his hands ached. _"I said all that out loud? And Axel heard everything." _He felt embarrassed, but more than that he was terrified of what it meant. _"I think my memories are starting to break down. When Naminé shattered my heart, something must have gone wrong." _He drew his knees up to his chest, only now realizing he was shaking. _"But those memories are a part of me,"_ the replica's eyebrows knitted. _"And I disappeared… It's not just my memories. I think I'm breaking down too."_

Axel was not finished with his story. "Finally you just seized up and fell over. I nudged you a few times, but you were pretty under, so I just waited for you to wake up." With a shrug of his lanky shoulders, he concluded, "and that's pretty much it."

"But didn't you see the darkness?" he demanded, hoping for an alternative to his theory. "It pulled me under and you didn't even think to do anything about it?"

Axel shook his head. "Don't know what you're talking about. There was no darkness, just you talking to yourself and then blacking out."

"And I didn't disappear? I didn't just vanish and my body stayed here the whole time?"

"What? No. Like I said, I kicked you a little and you just lay there."

"And there was no voice? No Sora? No Riku? No – nothing?" his frantic voice rose higher with each question before petering off to a crack on 'nothing'. He wanted – he needed – Axel to verify what had happened to him.

"Sounds like a nightmare. Just get over it."

The replica stared at him. There was something else sharp about Axel – his eyes. He was interested in the story. Axel was lying. The replica quickly got to his feet, taking care not to let Axel see how unsteady he was. "Tell me what's going on!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Do you have _any_ idea what I just went through?!" he exploded, throwing his arms down forcefully by his sides and snarling. He could feel sweat beading on his forehead, sliding down the nape of his neck, as his glare steadied on Axel.

Axel ran a hand through his hair as a frown creased his forehead. After a moment, he tore his gaze away from the replica and told him awkwardly, "Like I said, you just passed out…"

"No. No, that's not what happened," snapped the replica. "You want to know what really happened? After I was dragged into the floor, I had to watch my most important memory dissolve right in front of my eyes while listening to you, Vexen, and the others forcing Naminé to stick it into my head."

"What are you talking ab-"

"'Do you really think Riku would just jump back into the water for the charm? Sounds kind of stupid to me'. Sound familiar? It should. That's what you said. That's what you told them when you were putting that memory into me." The replica watched as Axel's eyes widened slightly. Quickly he tried to cover it up, but it was too late. "But it didn't matter before because there was something pushing me back so that I couldn't think about it. This time I could, though. So why now?"

"How should I know? Maybe Naminé smashing your heart did more damage than I thought and you're starting to remember what happened before. I don't know!" Axel exclaimed.

There it was – the confirmation he had sought. Unsurprisingly he felt no better than he did a minute ago. "So my memories breaking down?"

"I honestly have no idea, but it sounds like it."

"So what does that mean for me?"

"Again, do I look like I'm the resident replica expert?"

"Well, you killed the only person I could ever ask, so you'd better figure it out."

Axel placed his long fingers against his temples and began to rub. "I don't owe you anything, replica. I haven't killed you yet, though I'm seriously regretting that right now, so if I were you, I'd take what I can get."

Even with the threat, the replica was certain Axel was not going to harm him. With the disturbing visions behind him and the threat of his memories disintegrating, Axel suddenly seemed much less intimidating. "What about the rest of it?"

"Oh good, there's more?"

The replica ignored him and continued. "After I heard all of you talking, the memory started to dissolve. The next thing I knew, my body was gone."

"Wait, was this when you collapsed?"

"Maybe. I was sort of unconscious, remember?"

"Fine. Then what?"

"I saw Sora."

Axel raised his eyebrows and folded his arms. The replica instantly regretted mentioning it after seeing how intently focused Axel was on this single line. "Then what?" Axel inquired evenly. "How could you see Sora if you didn't have a body? No eyes," he pointed out.

"I don't know. I sort of just…" the replica held up his hand in front of him and opened it, palm facing outwards like he was reaching for something, "passed right through him. And then I was floating down the hallway of the castle for a while until…"

"Until what?"

"Until I met Vanitas." The name alone was enough to make him shudder.

Axel stared at him blankly. "Who?"

The replica watched Axel's reaction carefully. Throughout their conversation, Vanitas had revealed several times that he and the replica had been prior acquaintances until his memory loss. Unable to verify it himself, the replica wanted to see if there would be anything in his response that would validate the accusation. When Axel gave nothing away, he explained further, "he's like… an Evil Sora." The incredulous grimace on Axel's face made him instantly regret the choice of words.

"I'm sorry, what?" Axel said flatly.

Stuttering as he tried to recover, the replica said, "I'm just trying to -"

"So he's like Sora… only 'evil'."

"They had the same voice…"

"So what does that make you? 'Evil Riku'? Is there another Axel running around that I should know about?"

"Could you _just shut the f_-"

"This story is getting worse," declared Axel. "It started with you getting stuck in the floor and hasn't really gone uphill from there. As much as I want to hear about your imaginary friend, we have to get moving."

Growling, the replica dove in front of him to block his path. Axel raised his eyebrows and the replica saw a small flame dancing in his palm, waiting to summon a chakram. "Just let me finish, alright?"

"Condense it." Axel crossed his arms tightly and nodded with tight lips.

Not waiting to give Axel another opportunity to interrupt him, the replica quickly replied, "We floated down the hallway until we came to a throne room in the middle of the castle." Axel's eyebrows darted upwards but he remained silent. "Vanitas said that it was the reason why Castle Oblivion existed. And there was this blond kid sitting on the throne."

"Wait, blond kid? What blond kid?" His arms unfolded and he shifted his weight. At first he looked uneasy until he laughed, though sounding a little shaken. "Okay, I get it now – you passed out and had a weird dream. I'll acknowledge that _maybe_ you thought some darkness pulled you down and _maybe_ your memories started disintegrating, but that's it. End of story."

"It wasn't a dream!"

"No? I know of every single person who has walked through these doors in the past week. There wasn't any blond kid." The replica wondered if he imagined it - not the boy in the chair, he was certain that was real – but the sudden tenderness in Axel's tone. "It was just a nightmare."

The replica choked back a scream of frustration. "I know what I saw! I know what I felt! He told me that the Organization didn't know about the room."

"Well, if Evil-Sora tells you something, it must be true." Axel rolled his eyes to the ceiling and said somewhat testily, "Like I said – nightmare. It's all part of being human."

"Don't talk to me about being human!"

Axel sighed. "If I explain all this to you, will you shut up so we can get moving?"

After a few agonizing moments of reflection, the replica nodded.

"Dreams are based on memories, alright? So what were the last few things on your mind before you went out of it? Let's recap." One by one, Axel began to tick off the recollections on his long, outstretched fingers. "First, you were in a lot of pain, second, you were thinking about the real Riku – don't give me that look – I know you were. What else would a replica think about? Third, I reminded you that Sora's memories of you have been wiped," Axel finished off, looking much too pleased with himself.

Less impressed, the replica gave him a glare that indicated he still was not convinced.

"Look, if I'm right and all this happened after you completely blacked out, then everything I said makes perfect sense. You dreamt that your body disappeared as a means to stop the pain and freed you from being bound in Riku's form. With me so far?" Without waiting for so much as a nod, he pressed on, "So then you start thinking about Sora so you can see him one last time. You just passed out and started dreaming. Simple."

Looking away, the replica pondered this carefully. "That still doesn't explain the blond kid. Or…"

"Or 'Evil-Sora'?"

The replica winced. "Vanitas," he corrected.

Axel rolled his shoulders. "We programed you to distrust Sora, so maybe some residual hatred began manifesting as a Sora who despised you back."

"_If it were a dream that actually would kind of make sense. If I knew in my heart that he wasn't real; that could be why he claimed he wasn't Sora and only existed within me. But then how could my mind come up with that name?"_ He retraced his thoughts back to the memory that had floated just out of his grasp. "_And that still doesn't explain…"_

"What about the blond boy I saw?"he pressed.

"Maybe it was some weird memory of Riku's that Naminé overwrote that's now surfacing in splinters. Or you're just crazy. Take your pick."

The replica stiffened, drawing in a deep breath and allowing his eyes to slowly flutter shut. Calmly he said, "I'm not lying. I know what I saw; everything that happened to me was real and I can prove it."

"Oh really?" drawled Axel.

"Stand here with me."

Though his eyes were closed, he could picture Axel's dubious expression perfectly. "Uh, sorry, what?"

"Just stand here."

"I'm good where I am, thanks."

Scowling, the replica told him, "It doesn't matter where you stand. I just need you to concentrate." With his eyes closed and his breathing even, he was able to easily catch onto and discard the unnecessary elements. "After I woke up, I started noticing a series of scents that I hadn't been able to pick up on before. I didn't know most of them, so I started tracking their movement just in case they were threats. It wasn't until I was with Vanitas that I realized that one of them, a scent full of light, had to be the boy I saw. If you can sense him too, it will prove I'm right."

To his benefit, Axel closed his eyes obediently, though the replica heard him mutter "defective model getting stupider" as he did so. After a moment of silence Axel asked, "What exactly am I supposed to be looking for?"

The replica held back a sigh. "I told you – it's a very bright scent. There's no darkness in it at all. It's also the only one apart from Sora, Donald, and Goofy that will be completely stationary."

"I don't sense anything. Just – no wait, okay, maybe. What floor is it on?"

The replica could estimate how far each being was in relation to him based on how strong the scent was. Fortunately, the boy's scent, though faint, seemed to equally permeate every floor. "It's on all of them, like it's part of the castle."

"I only feel you and me."

"Try harder. Can you sense as far up as Sora?"

The replica could hear the metal clasps on Axel's coat jangle as he shook his head and said sarcastically, "No. Can you?"

"_Yes,"_ thought the replica, though he kept it to himself. He abruptly realized that Naminé was absent. With a sharp intake of breath, he squeezed his eyes shut to concentrate harder, only to have her reappear a second later.

"_What was that about?"_

Suddenly four more familiar scents resurfaced in the basement floors. The replica took a moment to identify them.

"Oh, Riku's back," he said testily, more to himself than Axel. Alongside Riku was the first incredibly bright scent, though it was mobile and completely different than the one he was trying to find, and the dark scent that seemed to be hanging over him. They were only a floor above them. A couple floors below, the replica sensed the shrouded scent return, though it was much fainter than he recalled, even though he was now closer to the source. "You have to at least be able to sense that."

"What?" Axel murmured. The replica opened his eyes to see that Axel was standing with his arms outstretched in a T-shape, like he thought it would help increase his range.

The replica rolled his eyes, only just remembering that Axel could not see him. "Four scents just returned."

Axel's eyes snapped open and he lashed out, seizing the replica by the upper arm and yanking him closer. "What? Who are they?"

Flinching as Axel's bony hand dug into his flesh, he replied. "I don't know. One of them is Riku and there are two with him that I don't -"

"And the fourth?"

"It's just below us. Maybe two floors."

Axel swore under his breath. "We have to go – now!"

The replica tried to jerk away from Axel's crushing grip. "Why?"

He gave the replica a rough shove, catching him off balance and sending him crashing to his hands and knees. "Because it means that Zexion has finally made his move. Now go!"

* * *

Notes: Vanitas will be back. He's pretty important.


	4. The Choice

I want to apologise for the delay. I had hoped to have this chapter and the next out by the end of February, but there were issues with my laptop and I needed to have it repaired. The next chapter might also take a while because I am currently travelling around Europe (yay!), so I can only work on it sporadically.

For the purpose of this chapter, the confrontation with Zexion takes place in a hidden room in the basement (in one of those towers sticking out of the sides) and Axel does not know which room he will retreat to. Also after Zexion portals in, he kind of chills there for 10 minutes, apparently waiting for them.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. All are the properties of their respective owners.

* * *

**3**

The Choice

Twin tongues of flames traversed and swirled along the length of Axel's arms, twisting and coiling until they reached his hands. Within his palms, the flare began to take solid form, growing eight pointed spikes along the rim of each wheel. Axel flexed his gloved fingers and snatched the chakrams, grasping them within clenched fists. The replica's heart began to pound painfully within his chest. In all the time he had known Axel, the replica had only ever seen him hold his weapon loosely with his fingertips just hanging onto the edge. Even when they had fought earlier he had only swung them around playfully. The shift in Axel's disposition unnerved him more than he cared to admit.

"Wait – just wait! Who is Zexion?" Quickly the replica shoved Naminé's charm back into his pocket and pushed himself up onto one knee. Axel turned to face him with narrow eyes and taunt arms while wispy tendrils of smoke were curling around his wrists. Knowing how desperately he was pushing the limit of Axel's patience, the replica continued hastily, "I need to know, Axel. I -"

As if seeing him for the first time, the replica drew in the details of Axel's black coat as it billowed from the wind created by the motion of summoning his weapon, feeling his breath hitch within his throat. Zexion had the letter X in his name. "There aren't… there aren't more of you, are there?"

"You're going to have to be a lot more specific," Axel taunted, though speaking with a clipped tone. The replica found himself oddly appreciative of the fact that Axel seemed unable to pass up an opportunity at making him feel inferior. "More Nobodies? Naturally. So I'm going to assume you're asking about the Organization." His chuckled reply sent a shiver down the replica's spine. "The Organization as you know it is short for Organization Thirteen. We're given names by our Superior when we join up and are numbered from I to XIII. "I'm number VIII, your creator was IV," Axel shifted the chakram in his left hand, spinning it deftly. The replica could hear a slight whistle as it cut through the air, "And we're going after number VI."

"Zexion," completed the replica, his throat suddenly feeling parched. The replica's muscles locked and he found himself unable to rise from his half-kneeled position on the floor. The glass ceiling had returned, though now the replica knew he had forced something beneath it himself.

"You thought I was the only one left, didn't you? I hate to break it to you, but there are still nine of us remaining."

The replica's brow furrowed in concentration. "But their scents… I don't sense anything." His mind returned to the incredibly dark scent that had returned alongside Riku. Axel's reaction had clarified which scent belonged to Zexion, yet that one remained a mystery. The replica had originally thought that whoever the scent had belonged to had to be a friend of Riku's, or at the very least a travelling companion, as it never left his side. However, as he studied it more closely he could sense that the scent was riding on top of Riku's as if it were a part of him.

_"Could it be the Superior Axel mentioned? It's the strongest, darkest scent I've ever felt and it could be going after Riku the way that Axel and the others were after me. Or…" _the replica trailed off anxiously as his furious heart drummed deafeningly in his ears, _"Is Riku just a lot stronger than I thought? Strong enough to have consumed whatever that thing is?"_

"They're not here," Axel clarified dismissively, refuting at least one of the replica's thoughts. "Well, Zexion is, obviously. And anyway, the coats dull the scents we emanate."

The replica scowled as to not let Axel know how affected the revelation had made him. "Fine. So there are others. That doesn't change anything." The replica noticed a slight tremor in his tone and, coughing quietly under his breath, continued in a more assured voice. "But I don't understand – why are you killing off your own kind?"

Axel sighed, "I already told you about Vexen."

"No, that's not an answer!" snapped the replica while calling Soul Eater to his hand with quick flick of his wrist as discretely as he could. "I thought you just wanted to kill them all off because you're insane and maybe, I don't know, wanted to be the only member of the Organization left. But if there are so many more of you, what are you thinking? They'll come after you. You know they will."

"If you want what's coming to you, I'm going to insist that you stop questioning everything I do." Axel swung one chakram out in front of him, stopping it directly between the replica's eyes. "Besides, they won't catch me because as far as they'll ever know I haven't done anything wrong."

"So this is all just a game to you?" The replica could not take his gaze off the chakram, fearing he was going cross-eyed.

Axel shrugged. "Perhaps. But on that note, here is a riddle for you – what is the one thing that you can do that no one else can?"

The replica rolled his eyes. _"Have the trippiest out-of-body experience ever?"_

"Replicate," said Axel, ignoring the look flashed by the replica. "Vexen told me once that a replica bears the unique ability to absorb certain traits from others and make them its own. I have _no idea_ what that means, so it's up to you to figure it out."

"What are you talking about?" The replica lifted his head to peer above the chakram and locked into Axel's eyes.

Those eyes narrowed as Axel vanished in a flicker. Out of the corner of his eye, the replica caught a saw a flash of red. Screaming before he knew what was happening, the replica felt a sharp jab in his lower back.

Using the point of the chakram as leverage, Axel crudely thrust the replica back onto his feet. "Zexion could RTC at any second," not bothering to explain what that meant, he added fervently, "I can't wait any longer for you to sort yourself out."

A desperate lunge with Soul Eater was blocked as Axel swung the second chakram, catching the sword in motion and slamming the blade back against the replica's own throat. Pinned between both of Axel's weapons and his own, the replica heard Axel order him to dispel his weapon. The replica rapidly shook his head, suddenly unable to speak. Axel merely adjusted his arm, pressing Soul Eater's blade into his neck, effectively cutting off his breath. With a gasp, the replica dispelled the sword. Before it could be recalled into his other hand, Axel snapped up both wrists and restrained them against the replica's own shoulder. His two free fingertips still held the chakram, dangling it across the replica's chest.

Hot breath tickled against his ear. "You're not going to run. If you were, you would have bolted the second I closed my eyes back there."

Tears stung his eyes and blurred his vision. In less than a single day he had learned that his entire life was a lie; that he did not deserve to live or even be called human. The one person he would have happily died for had rejected him. The only one to show him any hint of compassion no longer remembered he had even existed. He had to endure a nightmare he never thought possible to wake from after watching his memories disintegrate. Vanitas had tortured him and Riku had erased him in Naminé's life forever. He knew now that he could never escape the Organization hunting him. He had been beaten, taunted, humiliated, abused, and now forced into this. His entire life had been stripped bare for all to witness and smile as he shattered.

The replica blinked, causing the tears to spill down his cheeks. His shoulders began to tremble with silent sobs despite knowing that Axel could surely feel the movement. Not running then had been stupid – he understood that. But Axel had listened to him. No one had ever listened before. More than that, Axel had closed his eyes and trusted him. For those few short moments the replica had been able to pretend he had a friend.

"That had nothing to do with you - you would have done the same thing if you had been through what I was. Axel, I wanted to prove I was right!"

"No. You wanted to prove that I was right." Axel removed the chakram from his back, though kept a steady grip on his wrists and shoulder. "You were never going to run because you want to know how I intend to fulfill the promise I made you. And now that you can add 'breaking down' to the list of things wrong with you, you're going to be more desperate than ever for my help."

Choking back more tears, the replica grunted and rolled his shoulder in a vain effort to shake him off. "You just don't get it. I don't want your help anymore. All I want is to get out of here. Please…" he begged softly, despite knowing what the answer to his plea would be, "Just let me go."

Axel whispered with a sigh, "It looks like we're finally on the same page. That's your prize. All you have to do is follow exactly what I say and you'll have your freedom."

The replica's eyes widened and his body stiffened, pressing him uncomfortably against the chakram still held over his chest. He scarcely noticed. The hand on his shoulder loosened slightly. The last of his tears fell. "My…" he trailed off shakily before whispering, "You would do that for me?"

"It's more complicated than just letting you go. You'll be free from me, from Riku, from the shackles of being a replica, and from everyone and every Nobody who ever tried to hurt you. But it's all up to you."

"And if I don't?" asked the replica weakly.

"You know I won't have any other choice." The implication was clear enough. Suddenly Axel freed his hands, though he could feel the chakram return to be pointed squarely at his back until he reached a few paces ahead of Axel. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I…" whispered the replica, trailing off into a hesitant silence.

_"Freedom." _It was a word he never thought he would be permitted to taste. The replica wiped his eyes, no longer caring if Axel saw. Just hearing the word alone was more than he could have ever hoped for.

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Axel replied with a chuckle under his breath. "I wanted to see how far you'd go without any further persuasion. You know how it is here; it's not wise to use all your best cards at once – you'll run out of options far too quickly and be left with nothing strong enough to fight back."

"But you said…" the replica broke off stammering. His mind felt fuzzy and sweat began to bead along his forehead. Axel's gaze felt unnervingly hot. "You said that no one would ever accept me because I'm a replica. A-and you said that I know too much to leave."

"It won't matter anymore. You'll be strong enough to take anything you want. Freedom, safety, home, Naminé's love, Sora's friendship. Everything. "

The replica released a breath he had not even realized he was holding and gave a weak involuntary shudder. With a flash he returned Soul Eater to his hands, turning it between his fingers. "You still haven't told me what you want me to do."

Sighing, Axel replied, "You already know. I know you do because you already guessed it. I hate to say it, but the quicker you accept what's about to happen, the easier it will be on you."

"I know I don't have any other choice," the replica said solemnly, though scarcely able to control the shivers rushing down his spine and the steady beat of his heart. The image beneath the glass ceiling was threatening to burst through. As a distraction he gingerly touched the spot where Axel had stabbed him. The dark suit seemed to have prevented Axel from breaking skin, but the wound stung where his finger-tips brushed it. "But still, I need to know what I'm getting into."

Only receiving a crooked smirk in response, the replica intuitively raised Soul Eater higher for protection. Axel turned to him and resumed speaking. "When Vexen had you reprogrammed, he made it so that you would think you were feeling everything extremely intensely, much more so than a real human being."

The replica nodded, recalling that from the splintered memory he had shared with Axel. "Can I offer you some advice, then?" Axel's eyes trailed up the replica's body, lingering on his tearstained face for an uncomfortably long time. Finally he turned away. "For the next five minutes… don't."

Axel flicked his wrist and a swirling inky whirlpool, like those he had seen during the storm on Destiny's Islands, in Riku's memories, appeared in front of them. The replica had seen the Organization members use the portals to travel the floors of Castle Oblivion, but never had he been so close to one. Chilling darkness seemed to emanate from its core.

"If you could do that this whole time, why did we have to walk all way down to here?" asked the replica with a touch of annoyance.

"Because we needed to get around so I could sense where Zexion was hiding." The replica kept to himself the fact that he had felt Zexion's presence hours ago from almost twenty floors away. Gesturing to Soul Eater, Axel commanded, "Put that away. You won't need it."

"I want it," insisted the replica as his fingers closed even tighter around the sword's handle.

"I don't care. We need surprise on our side and I don't want you announcing it with a weapon." Without explaining what 'it' was, he held up his chakrams as an indication that he was prepared to use force to get his way.

The replica allowed Soul Eater to dissipate into blackness and suddenly felt very naked. Vulnerable. He wiped his eyes again to erase the remaining evidence of his moment of weakness.

"Trust me." Axel told him. The replica's eyes widened incredulously and he nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of that sentiment. "Trust me with this one thing and I promise you will have your freedom." The replica still could not accept that word as truth. Axel appeared to take the replica's stunned silence as consent. "You first," he commanded and shoved the replica through.

The replica stumbled to find his footing as he plunged through. Straightening up, the replica stifled a gasp. He had expected the inside of the portal to resemble walking through a black fog, but instead it was a wide tunnel, reminding him of Castle Oblivion. The walls shimmered with blue light, making him feel like he was underwater. It would have been beautiful were it not for the heavy, suffocating coldness that permeated the air. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered; he hated how much felt like fake memory of drowning.

Axel's scent appeared behind him. "Had to make sure you couldn't try anything stupid. It's dangerous to be in here without a coat like ours," Axel explained while eyeing the replica's dark suit. With another flick of his wrist a second portal opened. "Go," he demanded. Not wanting to feel Axel's hand on his back again, the replica complied.

The cloying odour of raw fear assaulted the replica's senses before he even stepped through the portal. Axel had led him to a room that was dark and composed of stone, completely unlike the rest of Castle Oblivion. The replica guessed he had to be in a hidden room in one of the basement floors, like the throne room Vanitas had showed him. The only light came from a flickering orb that sat on a table in the room's corner. But the replica did not need light to know that he was not alone. Pressed against the wall farthest from him, stood another boy. He appeared to be in his late teens, only a few years older than Riku. His dark blue bangs hung limply over his face while he panted heavily, clutching at his side. As the replica had expected, he was wearing the cloak of the Organization; he could finally put a face to Zexion's name and scent.

The noise of the portal altered Zexion to his presence. Their eyes met once as Zexion gave a cry in terror and flattened himself against the wall.

The replica did not know how to react as Axel appeared behind him through another portal. However, the arrival of a fellow Organization member seemed to calm Zexion.

_"He's scared of me? Why?"_

His eyes strayed over Zexion's, taking in the long gashes marring his chest, arms, and legs. The coat hid most of the damage from view, but he could make out a ragged line extending from Zexion's ear to collarbone. The replica recognized Soul Eater's work instantly as each laceration was seeped in the scent of a familiar darkness.

_"Looks like Riku isn't a fan of yours either."_

Detaching himself from the wall, Zexion's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the replica closely. His face relaxed slightly as he straightened. "Oh, oh yes!" he said shakily, though his tone grew more assured with each word. "The replica, of course! We can use this Riku to defeat the real one."

The replica fought to keep his face impassive as every muscle in his body was straining against the desire to plunge his sword through Zexion's smug face. All along it had been a trap; Zexion's insinuation had confirmed that much. Down in the dark room he was lost and caught with no escape between two Organization members who wanted to misuse him again.

When Axel failed to respond, the replica saw Zexion's eyes widen. "Axel?" he called tentatively.

"Wouldn't you like to be real?" Axel answered with a seductive smoothness. It took the replica a moment to realize who Axel was addressing. Nodding silently and loathing Axel for what he'd done, the replica could do little more than stare ahead at Zexion, knowing that his promise of freedom had been ripped away the moment he had set foot into the portal. For Axel to remind him of it was repulsive.

_"Of course I do, more than anything."_

Confidently, though maintaining the darkly alluring tone from before, Axel told him, "All you need is the kind of power that the real Riku doesn't have." The replica felt his chest constrict as Axel continued. "If you can get that you'll be you, not Riku nor anybody else. You'll be unique… your own self."

The glass shattered.

With a small gasp, the replica's eyes widened. His lips slowly parted as the words swirled around his mind. It had been Axel who had posed the question, but Vanitas had granted him the answer. _"Only the strong deserve to live. When I take your strength, mine grows, and it is by gaining strength that I can become more."_

Axel and Vanitas had understood what the replica failed to grasp. Zexion was weak; his remaining strength was begging to be stolen - replicated, as Axel had called it - by someone who deserved them. Someone who deserved to live.

All that stopped him from being human was the boy standing before him.

"Axel! What are you saying to him?" Zexion cried. His fingers tensed against the stone wall behind him as he hunched forward slightly, as if to spring.

"You know," Axel said with a detached air, "I bet he's as good a place to start as any."

"You can't do this!" Zexion protested fearfully, his strangled gasp abruptly silenced as a hand seized his throat. Zexion clutched at the wrists holding him, already draining his strength away at mere contact, to no avail. With his new strength, the replica raised Zexion into the air.

He could feel it. His wounds began to knit and heal instantly. His body no longer was on the verge of collapse. The exhaustion, the despair, and the weakness he had felt all but dissipated. The replica took a deep breath. Power. It was intoxicating and he wanted to drink as much as he could muster from Zexion's fading life so that he would never know weakness again. He felt strong, but more than that he felt alive.

But then, staring into Zexion's terrified eyes, he froze. Despite all of the fighting he'd done, never before had he taken a life. Though he himself was only a few weeks old, the fact was that Zexion appeared to be around his age, only a child himself. Zexion was hurt too and had just been betrayed by Axel. He was scared, alone, and was completely at the replica's mercy, exactly as he had been to the Organization before.

"So sorry, Zexion," the replica heard Axel say in the same voice he had used before. Then came a cold chuckle. "You just found out way too much."

_"Is that why I'm killing him? I'm not doing this for me – this is for Axel. Everything has been for Axel. For the Organization. He's just using me again. Wasn't that what Vanitas said… that I don't deserve to live because I'm destined to serve others so that they can become stronger? How is this any different?" _

A more powerful thought overtook him. _"Is this the kind of person I want to become? Even if… even if I become stronger, what then? Will I have to kill Riku next? Is that the only choice I'll have?" _

The replica squeezed his eyes shut, unable to watch the life in Zexion's eyes rapidly dimming any longer. But he could not ignore how the hands that had struggled against his own had fallen limp, nor the sound of his final breath leaving his lips. _"Sora would never forgive me for that. Or for this. I don't want to be a monster in his eyes any more. I don't want to become Vanitas. I want to be someone that Naminé and Sora could be proud of. I want to be someone that I can be proud of. I want to be… me – and this isn't who I am!"_

He released Zexion, who crumpled to the floor in a heap. Wheezing and clutching at his throat as air began to filter into his starved lungs, Zexion was badly hurt but alive. Whirling towards Axel and calling upon his sword in a single swift motion, the replica shouted, "This isn't who I am! I won't do this!"

Brandishing Soul Eater and preparing to face Axel again, he screamed at Zexion to use a portal to escape. At first Zexion just stared at him with fearful, clouded eyes. Finally he seemed to understand and flicked his wrist to open a portal next to where he lay.

Axel's eyes widened. "No!" he screamed. All earlier serenity was gone as he charged at the two of them with his chakrams raised.

Zexion's energy had revived him, but he had experience with how fast Axel could move. Whether Axel attacked with his chakrams or with a rush of fire, the replica knew he could never fully block him from reaching Zexion.

However, Axel had unwittingly given him an idea earlier. _"I can't fight fire with sparks. Fair enough."_ Immediately after he had set Zexion free, the replica had used the cover of his sword and the darkness of the room to devise his own answer to Axel's flame. Dark Firaga had been festering, concealed, in his palm while he concentrated all of his remaining power into using something that would surely buy Zexion enough time to escape, regardless of the personal cost.

Axel lunged towards him and the replica unleashed his flames to hold him in place. Dark Firaga created a barrier between them, just as Axel had done earlier. For a split second behind the wall of flame, the replica saw Axel smirk. He returned the gesture and unleashed the full force of Dark Aura straight into his chest.

Axel's eyes barely had time to widen before the two of them were propelled across the room. Axel grunted as he was slammed against a stone pillar. The replica's crash was partially cushioned by Axel's lanky body, but he felt the shock of the impact strike him as powerfully as if their roles had been reversed. The replica was stunned but relieved to find that a painless Dark Aura was accessible to him once again.

Unconscious instantly, Axel slumped to the floor, bringing the replica down with him. Fighting to stay awake himself, the replica turned his head and peered through his swimming vision. He saw instantly what he had been looking for - the tail of Zexion's coat as he disappeared through the portal. _"He made it."_ The replica's eyes threatened to close, to allow him to fall lifeless beside Axel, but he forced them open. _"He's safe."_

A moan to his left warned him of the dangerous position he was in as Axel began to stir. The replica quickly pulled back onto his hands and knees as Axel began to push himself into a sitting position. "So what, you're going to kill me now?"

Tensely the pair locked eyes. The replica saw Axel flinch as he pulled his arm up and back in the pose used to summon Soul Eater. Faster than Axel could blink, the replica smashed his clenched fist into the center of Axel's face. He grinned when he felt something splinter.

A grating sound that was half yelp and half moan escaped Axel. He rolled onto his stomach and curled into a ball while holding both hands tightly over his face and groaning. The replica could not deny how good that felt.

Wordlessly the replica shook out his fist and flexed his fingers. Axel's head had been harder than expected so he was glad to learn that none of his fingers were broken. With a heaving breath he struggled to his feet. Partly obscured by Axel's arms, the replica could make out a single green eye from between the gloved fingers, unblinkingly trained on his own.

"No. I'm not like you." Before Axel could recover, the replica took off running.

* * *

_"I wanted to see how far you'd go without any further persuasion. You know how it is here; it's not wise to use all your best cards at once – you'll run out of options far too quickly and be left with nothing strong enough to fight back." Ha ha, 'Castle Oblivion uses cards and sleights'. I'm so lame. _

_Just as a side note, I actually do like Axel. I like him a lot (3__rd__ fav character!), but my main character is pretty biased (especially concerning Vexen) and, to be honest, he was kind of a dick in C.O. _

_But what is his motivation here (if anyone is actually reading these notes btw, I commend you for being awesome – go have a great day!)? Axel has fears that the replica will wimp out and not kill Zexion for him. So first Axel sees his chance to try to get the replica riled up and angry by making him feel hopeless after he asks about the existence of more Organization members. He tries to play along with the replica, making him hate the Organization. But he's taking too long, so Axel tries to use force in an effort to make him even angrier with the Organization (since Axel is a member). But, since Axel doesn't understand emotions very well, he pushes him too much after what he's been through. Axel kind of goes, "Aw crap, I broke it," once he realizes that he might have screwed up. He switches tactics and promises the replica something he really wants. Now he knows that he has him, but still tries to make sure he'll be angry enough to not back down. _

_But then, finally, Axel tell him "for the next five minutes… don't [feel]". He was trying to tell the replica to not back out, but accidentally caught himself looking at how distraught he had made the replica. At this point in the game, Axel is beginning to develop a heart. He feels a twinge (a small one!) of regret for what he is about to make the replica do to Zexion. So when he says that line, he is also saying it to himself. Then he tries to recover and be more forceful to get back in command. That's why he makes the replica go first – because he doesn't want to look into his eyes any more._

_Also, I have no idea how the Riku Replica managed to lift Zexion up in one hand like that in the game. So for the sake of this story, draining Zexion's life gave him bonus strength._

_So actual story stuff: I mentioned in the notes for the last chapter that I was unhappy with the previous iterations of it. The reality is that the second chapter was originally very different and the changes I made really impacted this one. Originally, Vanitas had a smaller role. Nothing drastic, but he never said his big speech which, as you can see, became really important in this chapter. When Vanitas retreated after setting off Aqua's spell (By saying his name, in case that wasn't clear – the spell was looking for any trace of him, but because he was chilling in the replica's heart, it couldn't notice. Until he had to be smug and make his presence known. Whoops…), the replica connected with Riku and saw the Destiny Island's scenes in CoM. The replica, in this version, met Zexion in this scene and witnessed Sora (Zexion) fighting Riku. Then the scene with Naminé and Riku happened. _

_But in the end, I didn't like the Destiny Islands stuff and increased Vanitas' role (which is honestly the way it should be) and decreased Riku's. So what did that mean for this chapter? Originally the trigger for the replica changing his mind was thinking that he didn't want Sora to look at him the way he did to Riku when Zexion attacked. _


	5. Two Sides of the Same Card

Here's the next chapter! Well actually I had to do another massive chapter split so _technically_ it's just the first half (and it's still pretty loooooong). Oh well!

Just some quick notes: my favourite Kingdom Hearts character appears in this chapter and (for obvious reasons) the replica hates him. And Riku (yeah, you all knew it was him) hates him just as much. It's the same issue with Axel - they're all extremely biased towards each other. Because there would be no growth if everyone started off as friends!

Also see if you can point out every time there would be a prompt for a reaction command.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or Disney. All are the properties of their respective owners.

* * *

**4**

Two Sides of the Same Card

The floors of Castle Oblivion were true to their name as the replica raced across them, their white walls and identical features providing no indication if he was any closer to escaping his prison. Every time he reached one of the large double doors that separated each floor's corridor from the next, he would practically hurl his cards toward it for entry. Once they admitted him passage, he dashed up the stairs, taking first two then three at a time.

His eyes darted around constantly while he ran and his senses were heighted as he simultaneously searched for the door that would lead outside or for any signs of Axel. His echoing footsteps made him feel incredibly exposed and certain that Axel would be able to hear exactly where he was from three floors away with the racket he was making. The replica has quickly discovered that he had to make a choice between concentrating on scouring for scents or running, meaning that he could plow straight into Axel at any point without realizing it.

As he ascended another flight of stairs, frantically wondering how many more lay between him and the exit, the replica caught a new scent. It was not Axel's as he had hoped but it was one that he recognized.

"Heartless."

He scowled, convinced that Axel was summoning them to slow him down. Atop the staircase stood three figures, blocking off the doorway; the replica could see the shadowy pools they had emerged from fading away behind them. They were small, coming only up to the replica's waist, and vaguely reminiscent of a child. However their unblinking yellow eyes that peered out at him from behind armoured helms were far from human.

Jerkily the Heartless rushed towards him with their long, red claws outstretched. In three quick slashes they had vanished. "_Soldiers? Was that your best, Axel? It's underwhelming." _

Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement; five new Heartless were climbing out of the floor to replace their fallen comrades. The replica summoned his darkness and tried to control them, but again something more powerful was driving them on. This time, however, he was certain it was Axel's doing. With a roll of his eyes, he quickly disintegrated them with five quick flares of Dark Firaga to the helmet. He marvelled at the difficulty using the same attacks had caused him earlier.

Not waiting for another batch to appear, he sped towards the door at the end of the hallway and dove into his back pocket for one of the cards the Organization had given him to unlock each floor. With a lurch of his stomach, he realized that he had used them all up to get this far. He had been so focused on putting as much distance between himself and Axel that he had not bothered to count.

Cards adorned with the insignia of Castle Oblivion, like those he had been given, were used to travel between floors without the use of dark portals. The Organization had stressed to him that cards were the keys to opening the secrets behind all of Castle Oblivion's doors.

The replica stepped back and sized it up with his sword. "_But they're still just doors,"_ he thought with a smirk.

The replica let off a concentrated blast of Dark Firaga straight into the door's center. Upon seeing that it had left a sizeable crater, he began peppering the door with multiple, tiny flares to conserve his energy. Stone debris ricocheted back at him, but he refused to move until the obstacle was removed. Finally his flames became weaker and less frequent until damage on the door ceased entirely. He would have to wait for his magic to recover.

There was a swish of movement behind him and he whirled around to face his attackers. The first Heartless he stabbed deftly through the chest. The other was dodged first with a quick leap to the side and then dispatched with a sharp backhanded swing. Not waiting for another attack, the replica kicked the disintegrating door as hard as he could. At once a section of the door fell back, revealing a pathway just large enough for him to crawl through.

He dropped to his hands and knees and squeezed through the tight space, dust settling on his face, hair, and clothes. Once through, the replica caught the putrid stench of Heartless emerging close by. He stood and glanced at the top of the staircase anxiously, but nothing appeared.

"_Okay."_ Despite the danger, the replica briefly closed his eyes to intensify his focus. "_So where are you?" _More debris tumbled onto his head. Distractedly he ran a hand through his hair to loosen it and froze in shock. He had already crawled out of the hole – there should not have been any debris. "_It's above me."_

A hiss came from above as a large, grey imp descended on him. The replica flung himself to the side. Before he had time to think, he had slammed his sword against the Heartless with a strong backhand and wedged it against the door's remains. The Heartless' leathery wings beat helplessly against the door while its sharp claws tried to scratch him. The replica recognized from the goggles and cap worn on its head that this breed was an Air Solider, one of the Heartless that Captain Hook had used when Riku was in Neverland. From the memories, he knew that this breed never traveled alone.

Reducing it to shadow with a flame from his recuperated magic, the replica spun around just in time to see an Air Pirate plummet towards him. A simple step to the left took him out of its path. The Heartless was unable to stop and slammed into the remains of the door with the full force of its assault. The door rumbled once and crumbled on the Heartless, burying it beneath. The replica felt its presence disintegrate a second later.

The replica took a step back and crouched down to peer through the gaping hole. A squadron of Heartless were already regrouping their army on the previous floor. They froze abruptly once they sensed the barrier between themselves and their prey had been removed. As a single unit they turned to face him, their yellow eyes gleaming ravenously.

The replica positioned himself just beyond the hole's entrance with the intention of setting them alight before one could even make it through, when the doorway began to shimmer. Gaping, the replica could only watch in awe as light began to shine from the edges of the ruined doorframe. The light closest to the edges appeared to become thicker, brighter and more solid; the replica realized with a start that the door was repairing itself. Solid marble began to grow from the hole's edges towards the centre in a brilliant rush of light, rapidly returning the door to its pristine glory.

Though their entryway was rapidly shrinking, the Heartless did not slow their assault. One particularly brash Soldier broke away from the pack and lunged for him. The replica felt certain it would simply bash into the door at full speed and backed away quickly, not sure how solid the new door would be. But to his horror, the unfortunate Heartless threw itself into the hole that was now rapidly closing around its midsection.

The Heartless began to writhe and shriek as the door continued to crush it. A single clawed hand stretched toward the replica and, though he could not tell if it was somehow crying for his aid or merely attempting to continue its hunt in the clutch of death, he could not stop himself from reaching out his own arm to meet it. In a rush of light the door sealed itself completely as the Heartless emitted its final cry. Its helmeted head and arms tumbled to the replica's feet.

With a lurch in his stomach he booted them as hard as he could, sending them crashing into the newly created door. They disintegrated upon impact. He shuddered and tried to block the image from his mind. Despite having cut down a number Heartless in self-defence much more violently during the short time he had been awake, bearing witness to that had been somehow far more disturbing.

Completely undeterred by their cohort's failure, the replica could make out the others frantically clawing and scraping against the other side of the door, hungrily trying to reach him. One by one, their scents died away. The replica knew they had not abandoned their chase and, predictably, reappeared to join their brothers on the floor just above the staircase. In his moment of pause, the replica found Axel's scent. It was still several floors below him, though a portal could instantly close that distance.

"I hate this place," he muttered, shaking his hair free of dust. "I really, really do."

Not waiting for Axel to make a move, the replica melted into shadow and released Dark Aura on the unsuspecting Heartless. Scent upon scent disintegrated as he struck them. The replica felt stronger than ever before. If at all possible he would avoid Axel, but if left with no other options the replica would fight back. For the first time he felt certain he could win.

An hour ago the replica could never have imagined he would have the ability to set himself free.

After the scent of the last Heartless vanished and his dark energy was drained, the replica paused to survey the damage he had caused. The white walls were littered with long, burning scratches and the floor was covered in scuff marks. Some of the pillars had small chunks missing. The replica knew it was an odd thing to be proud of.

Suddenly another scent was appeared behind him; it was clearly a Heartless, though larger and more potent than the others had been. It was faster too. In a flash of black and white, the replica had no time to react as something hard and sharp struck him in the head. The impact spun him around and threw him clear across the room. He crashed hard against the floor, feeling the air rush from his deflated lungs.

"Ah," he moaned, placing a hand just under his ear and along his jawline where the pain was worst. It burned horribly and he could feel warm, wet blood soaking through his glove.

Hearing a clank above him, the replica flipped over just in time to see a set of massive jaws closing in on him. Impulsively he kicked up his arms and legs and hit the edges of something hard and found himself staring straight into the three eyes of a massive, snarling, disembodied canine face.

It took him a second to realize that there was not simply a hovering dog's face in Castle Oblivion – it was the shield of a Defender Heartless. The Heartless itself was larger than any human man and completely covered in blue and red armour. One of its massive forearms was clutching the shield and the other was bracing its weight against the ground. The Heartless turned its armoured face toward towards its prey and placed both hands on the shield's back. The weight instantly doubled and the replica swallowed a scream as his muscles heaved.

Only a finger's distance from his stomach, the jaws relentlessly snarled and chomped as their Heartless master forced the shield down on him. The replica's arms and legs were trembling with the weight and felt certain his bones were going to splinter at any second. The voracious jaws had sprayed spittle all over his clothes and he could feel its warm breath on his face. Unless Axel chose that exact moment to walk in, the replica could not imagine how his situation could be worse.

Suddenly the face on the shield began to spin, its eyes glowing red, as the jaws pulled back and opened wide.

"_Damn."_

Desperately the replica kicked up on the shield and rolled sideways. The Heartless had not been expecting that and was tipped off-balance as the shield plunged forward. The shield's edge caught the replica along the shoulder, ripping off a chuck of skin even with the dark suit's protection. Gritting his teeth and swallowing a scream, the replica knew it was better with the alternative as he heard a muffled bang and felt the ground rumble, knowing that the fireball had discharged into the floor.

The Heartless never had a chance to recover as the replica dashed around it and stabbed it through the back. It lurched back in agony and vanished.

Its shield, however, did not. It continued to growl and gnaw at the floor, trying to flip itself over and continue the assault. He felt the air turn cold as it cast a blizzard spell. The replica jumped on top of the shield in an attempt to smother it but could not stop a small frozen lake from leaking around its base. The shield began to shake in renewed fury once it realized it had a passenger and roared. Almost immediately the room was once again flooded with another wave of Heartless.

Groaning, the replica tried to balance himself on the manic shield and think of the fastest way to get by them. He only had enough energy recovered since his last onslaught to use a short blast of Dark Aura that would be nowhere near strong enough to carry him around the room. The shield gave another shudder as it shot off another fireball, nearly toppling him off. Next, he knew, would come ice.

As the Heartless began to close in on him the replica felt the shield give another lurch, like it wanted to join its brothers. The shield's moment heaved the pair forward across the ice. With a small gasp the replica was hit with an idea that almost made him laugh out loud at how stupid it was. It was something that the mature, wise, practical Riku from his memories would never have even considered.

The replica could not wait to try it.

He let loose two weak blasts of Dark Firaga along each side of the corridor, then another two along the centre. Within seconds he Heartless were herded into two long columns. Smirking, he felt the shield spin under his feet as expected and shifted his weight back onto the rim so that the face was tipped upwards. The jaws completed their rotation and released a freezing torrent of ice, creating a flawless, frozen path straight to the door.

Planting his feet along the rim, the replica used Dark Aura to launch himself across the room. Holding Soul Eater in one hand and a long stream of Dark Firaga in the other, the replica was able to effortlessly slice down every single Heartless in his path. With the door rapidly approaching, the replica flipped clear of his ride and watched as it shattered upon impact.

The replica placed his hand over his chest, feeling his heart racing with exhilaration. It was a strange, foreign sensation, and the replica was not quite sure what to make of it. His grin abruptly fell when he realized he was daunted with the challenge of making it through another door.

The replica knew it would be possible to blast his way through once gain. But a churning in his stomach advised him strongly against it. The Heartless' screams as it was sliced in half were still disturbingly fresh in his mind.

"_I don't want Axel to know I got eaten by a door,"_ he joked as he attempted unsuccessfully to erase the image.

But the longer he stared at it, the more it looked like he would have no other option. The Heartless would be returning at any moment and Axel was finally starting to move. With a sigh and a knot in his stomach, the replica fired at the door exactly as he had done before. Finally he had created another opening big enough to crawl through. Once again, the replica dropped down to the floor. He had only just stuck his hands and forearms into the hole when he was met with an unwelcome glow.

"_No. No – it can't!"_

The replica yanked his body back as the opening began to rapidly seal itself in an explosion of light. He collapsed onto his backside, only able to watch futilely as his escape was ripped away.

With light, gaunt breaths, the replica hung his head in defeat. He suddenly became nauseously aware of the throbbing gashes maiming his head and shoulder. Everything ached with the realization that he had come so far, only to be trapped once again.

On automatic he reached into his pocket and pulled out Naminé's charm. It was a conditioned response, yet felt so natural. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I have to be stronger. If I ever want to be worthy of them, I need to be better than this."

Behind closed lids, the replica saw beams of light suddenly begin to dance. Startled, he opened them just in time to see the lucky charm begin to glow. Numb with shock he watched as it sparkled and shimmered like the star it was meant to resemble until the brightness became too much to bear.

Finally the glare subsided and the replica was able to open his eyes once again, but when he did he had to blink several times to make sure he was not hallucinating. But even if he could deny seeing it, his hands could clearly feel the change that had taken place. Clenched between his fingers was a crown-shaped card emblazoned with the image of a tropical island. It was not the soft toy Naminé had gifted him with in his memories, the possession he had been made to cherish above all else. It was just a card and it had never been anything more.

"All this time…" he said weakly. Though the notion that he was a replica and not Riku had been impressed on him so many times, it was not until that moment that he truly accepted it for the reality that it was.

The revelation caused a blind fury overtook him. Fleeing to a world created by his fake memories was absolutely useless – Axel probably had handfuls of Destiny Islands cards on him and would be able to follow in an instant. He would erase him the way he had done to Vexen, leaving the replica's body to bleed out alone in an empty world.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?!" With a grunt he hurled the card towards the door. It fluttered through the air, turning and flipping like a leaf gently falling to the earth. Finally it landed at his feet. Unable to stop himself, the replica glanced down at it. His heart nearly stopped.

The card had two sides - the other was Castle Oblivion.

"_There's never been a card like this. One card, one use, one world. That's how it always went." _The replica reached for the card, yet froze with his hand merely hovering over it. "_Is this what it comes down to? I could live out the fake memories until Axel finds me. That…" _the replica pulled away from the card as his eyes fell downcast, "_that might be the best thing for me. Axel was right – no world will ever want a replica. I could at least pretend I belonged somewhere, even if just for a little while, if I went through."_

The replica began to imagine all of his favourite places on the island, places that he suddenly had the ability to see for himself, like the islet, the Paopu tree, and the secret place. However, as the replica pictured it, a lingering shadow of his time with Naminé tainted every one, turning the memories cold.

"_But it wouldn't be real… just like me, it would never be real. They aren't even my memories – they're Riku's and whatever else the Organization wanted to make up. If I choose to go there now, I'll probably die there. That would be the easy thing. But then I'll never know what it might be like to make my own memories, never know anything other than what was forced onto me. I want to be able to choose the memories I make and I'll never be able to do that as long as I'm a prisoner here."_

Gently the replica scooped it into his hands and flipped it over to the Castle Oblivion side. It felt warm and oddly comforting, almost like it approved of his decision. Though he knew she likely had nothing to do with it, the replica could not help but believe it was a final gift from Naminé. He presented the card to the door. Light enveloped him as it swung open to permit his entry. For a moment he considered throwing away the now useless card, but shoved it back into his pocket. Worthless or not, it was the only thing that was truly his.

He was halfway up the stairs when the replica caught a new scent that made him freeze, as if all the warmth had been sucked from his body. He had been wrong; the card was not the ultimate proof of his nature.

Riku was waiting for him at the end of the hallway.

And he was not alone – the other two scents remained by his side like silent and watchful keepers. Even worse, the replica noticed that Riku's scent had shifted in the time that he had been away. It was much more powerful and kept an equal balance of light and darkness, keeping both tides perfectly at bay.

"_I should have known. I should have been tracking him." _The replica backed against the door, allowing it to support his body completely as he tried desperately to think. "_Maybe he hasn't sensed me yet."_ He glanced behind him at the door – he could use the Destiny Islands half of his card and wait until Riku moved on. It was far from ideal, but given the choice, the replica would have much rather taken his chances hiding from Axel in a world he knew well enough than fight Riku.

"Come out, fake!" the replica heard Riku bark, his voice echoing coldly off the walls.

"_Okay, forget that."_

The replica took in three deep breaths to calm himself. It was inevitable that they were going to fight as Riku would be on him in an instant if he tried to run, and he needed all the time he could get to recover his dark magic. He had used Dark Aura so many times that it was beginning to take its toll and his recovery times were getting longer and longer. However he knew that it would take far more time than Riku would allow for him to return to his full strength.

"_I can't kill him,"_ the replica reminded himself, squeezing his eyes shut and shutting out all sounds except his frantic heart. "_I just have to get past him."_

The replica began to picture himself approaching Riku. He walked confidently along the while hallway of Castle Oblivion without even acknowledging his reflection. Riku too paid him no mind and simply stepped to the side, permitting him passage. The sounds of clashing swords did not echo along the corridor and the stench of blood and darkness failed to permeate the walls. The pair never looked at each other, never said a word, and went their separate ways without acknowledging the other existed.

The impossibility of that scene filled him with a strange, tremendous calm. Like a warm mist, it slowly spread down his body and lightly tickled against his skin. His eyes fluttered open and his heart slowed as he detached himself from the door. The replica could feel Riku's strength and perfect mastery over both light and darkness emanating from his scent. His destiny was going to play out in the way that it was always meant to. Even with Zexion's power reviving him, the replica knew it was over.

He was going to die.

"_It was stupid… to think I had a chance."_

With a final exhale, the he began to ascend the stairs, his mind going blank as he stepped onto the floor. The replica was careful to walk with his back straight and his head held high. Regardless of how he saw himself, he wanted Riku to believe he thought a replica was worthy of existing.

The replica felt ready to face the boy who had taken everything from him and looked upon Riku's face for the first time.

Vexen had clearly been exceptionally skilled at his work. If the truth had never been revealed to him and he had simply encountered Riku in the castle by chance, the replica would have certainly believed he was looking into a mirror. The reflection was so flawless it was surreal and dreamlike; he truly was a perfect copy.

Though Riku's were narrowed in thinly-veiled disgust, the replica could instantly tell that they shared the same bright, ocean coloured eyes, along with the same feathery silver hair that fell to just past the chin, the same narrow nose, and the same curved lips. Until coming face to face with Riku, the replica had been unaware how perfectly on display his body was in the dark suit, especially since the sinuous blue and crimson colour choice suddenly seemed to have been designed purely to emphasize their muscles, and instantly felt flush with embarrassment despite how completely it covered him. As expected, the replica noted that Soul Eater was gripped tightly at his side.

The replica raised his own sword to mirror Riku, indicating that he was ready to fight. Riku hunched over like he was going to pounce and summoned Dark Firaga to his other hand. The flames danced tantalizingly in his palm. The replica merely shifted his weight to be better balanced and readied himself to fight for his life and at least give Riku a challenge.

However Riku's next words were something the replica could never have prepared for.

"I know you're here! Stop hiding and face me."

Certain he must have misheard, the replica's jaw fell nonetheless. "_W-what?"_

Riku continued to glare at him, but the replica suddenly noticed that his eyes were darting and unfocused. He followed Riku's line of sight straight behind him to the staircase he had just come from.

"_Can he… can he not see me?"_ he thought incredulously. The replica flashed Riku a quick wave, but he continued to stare straight through him, not even registering the movement. "_Is he blind?" _

In answer to his question, three heartless materialized in the air above his head; without even blinking, Riku dispatched of each one with a perfectly aimed flare from Dark Firaga. One was so close to his ear that the replica had to duck to avoid being scorched.

"I know you're here!" shouted Riku. The replica could see his muscles straining with tension as he glanced around anxiously.

"_I'm standing right in front of you. I really don't know what else you want from me."_ Hiding behind the retort, the replica's heart was pounding fiercely. He glanced down at his shoes. They were still there. His hands were too. For a moment he had been terrified that his body had vanished again. This knowledge provided no explanation, but gave a small amount of relief. At least he was safe for the moment.

However whatever anomaly was causing him to be invisible to Riku could not last forever. Standing starkly vulnerable in the middle of the corridor, too scared to even breathe in case it would give him away, the replica knew he would be exposed and killed the instant Riku could find him.

"Riku," a kind, high-pitched voice said from behind the pillar on Riku's left, "maybe the replica isn't here."

Riku's eyes flashed as he whirled on his companion. "No. It's here. I know that scent." He began firing off dark magic at random in hopes of hitting something. The replica flinched. If Riku got impatient and used Dark Aura, Riku's sword would be drawn to his heart whether he could be seen or not. "I. Know. That. It's. Here!" snarled Riku, punctuating each word with a blast of Dark Firaga. The last one was so powerful that the statue to the replica's right exploded in a shower of stone and dust.

"_How is he so strong?"_ the replica could feel sweat running down his neck. In the past minute Riku's scent had matured even further, becoming darker and more potent. "_I spent ten minutes trying to take down a door."_

"Riku…" said the voice with a veiled command lingering in its tone, "as your friend I am asking you to calm down. You know you're better than this now, but you're letting him take over you – it's what he wants."

"_Does he mean me? I really don't."_ With a jolt the replica remembered and latched onto the dark scent. Once he had laid eyes on Riku, he had completely forgotten about the others. The light scent, he was certain, had to be Riku's short companion who was concealed by the pillar. But there was no physical presence of the other, though the replica did not expect there to be. He had been right – it was lingering on top of Riku. It was the scent he had felt growing. "_What's going on?"_

Riku's glare slowly softened. He lowered Soul Eater a fraction and turned to his companion. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," the voice told him comfortingly, the way the replica imagined a parent would.

With a sigh Riku lowered Soul Eater further and turned towards his companion. As he turned, the replica's attention flashed to his other hand; it was clasped around a Castle Oblivion card. The replica gasped.

Since he had spoken, the replica had been silently pleading for Riku's friend to convince him give up the hunt and head into another memory. He had no idea what he would do if that happened, but it would at least give him a little more time before he would have to fight Axel. But everything had changed as getting safely past Riku and escaping the Organization had suddenly become intricately the same thing.

The replica needed that card.

"Maybe you're right," said Riku. "Maybe it isn't here. Maybe Zexion is trying to trick me again."

"I thought you said Zexion's scent faded?"

Shrugging, Riku replied, "I wouldn't put it past him to fake it somehow." Riku's friend gave a cheerful chuckle in affirmation and even Riku allowed himself a small smile at the sound.

"_They must be really close."_ Riku's friend was obviously the source of the light scent and the replica felt inclined to think of it as his guardian. Even in his desperate situation, the replica felt an awful envy knot in his stomach. "_I wonder what he'd be like without his friend backing him up."_

Suddenly a thought came to him. It was an idea that made him feel horribly ashamed, though the replica knew it would be his only chance to escape – Axel was nearly upon him and he would be completely trapped the instant Riku used up that card.

He was so close to freedom.

The replica steeled himself and concentrated his darkness. As it swirled around him, he fixed his aim on where is mark would be. To his shock, he found Riku staring back at him in wide-eyed fury. Somehow that action had made him visible again. The replica knew he now had even less time to make his move.

With a grunt, he shot a small flare in Riku's direction, causing him to fly back against the wall and widening the gap between himself and his friend.

"You -" Riku began as he braced himself to defend against the replica's Dark Aura. It took Riku a second too long to realize that he was never the target.

Powered by darkness, the replica leapt forward and crossed the expanse of the room in a flash. His vision was mired by blackness and he was relying purely on scent. He kicked off the wall at an angle and slammed the full impact of his attack onto Riku's unsuspecting partner. The replica never even saw what he looked like as the tiny body was flung limply behind a pillar. When the replica landed only a large pair of yellow shoes were still visible to his eyes.

"Mick - augh!" Riku cried as the replica slammed him back against the wall. He pressed the curve of Soul Eater's blade against Riku's neck the way that Axel had done to him.

However, Riku was more prepared than the replica had been then and his lunge with Soul Eater was quicker and more calculated as he swung it in an arc towards the replica's ribs. But the replica had been anticipating his actions and struck the sensitive spot at the base of Riku's wrist with his free hand, causing his grip on the sword to slightly loosen. Before Riku could recover, the replica ripped Soul Eater out of his grasp, now holding both swords.

Swallowing a gasp, Riku's hand twitched as he tried to recall Soul Eater. The replica did not dare to tear his eyes away from Riku, bracing himself to feel his left hand suddenly closing around nothing. Seconds later the sword remained firmly clenched in his grasp.

The replica fought back a sigh of relief. He didn't want Riku to know how much blind faith his plan had required. Since the moment the version of Riku in his memories had received the sword, the replica had known how to call it from shadows. Similarly to how Axel could only summon his chakrams and Sora his Keyblade, the replica was only able to call upon Soul Eater. As the replica understood it, this meant that the two weapons had to be intricately tied to their owners' identities.

However, neither Riku nor the sword he wielded were unique; as Riku's Soul Eater was the original template for his sword, just as Riku was for him, the replica felt nearly certain that he would be able to control it as well.

As far as Soul Eater knew, it had never left Riku's hand.

"_My move, Real Thing."_

If he was scared by his position, Riku certainly failed to show it. "How did you do it?" he ordered fiercely. "How did you turn invisible?"

The replica ignored him, though wondering the same thing himself, and shifted Riku's Soul Eater. Riku fell silent as his eyes followed the swords path until it came to rest, pointing sharply at a pair of bright yellow shoes. A black flare began to pulse at the tip of Riku's sword as the replica delivered his ultimatum. "Give me that card or I'll kill your friend."

"H-he's not…" Riku trailed off anxiously. The replica could see a small spark return to his eyes as they darted towards the shoes.

He shook his head, trying to imitate Axel as he maintained his smirk. The replica knew he would never act on his proposition unless it was absolutely necessary, but it was imperative that Riku not know that.

"Not yet. But that all depends on you. Give me the card and I'll let you go."

Entranced the replica watched as Riku's eyes first narrowed in hatred, then darted about in search of any other option, and finally dimmed in hollow resignation. As far as Riku knew, he would either have to give in or watch his own weapon steal his friend's life.

The replica knew he had won. But it was not the triumphant victory he had expected as a hauntingly familiar memory replayed in his mind.

"_All you have to do is follow exactly what I say and you'll have your freedom."_

Axel's promise. A promise that led to another Riku being restrained, helpless and desperate, while his tormenter bargained escape. Escape with a cost. A cost that nearly ended in an innocent death.

"_Maybe I'm more like Axel than I thought."_ His resolve was wavering by the second as stared into the eyes of his reflection. "_Just this once. Never again."_

"I'll give you the card," said Riku. His voice dripped with sheer loathing. "But don't think I'll let you get away with it."

The replica's heart wasn't in it, but he forced a sneer. "You'll be joining him on the ground in a second."

Riku rolled his eyes, though the replica felt him stiffen against the sword. Slowly he began to raise the hand holding the card, muttering, "I don't get why you don't just use a portal."

Those words smacked him harder than the shield had. Incredulously the replica stammered, "Y-you can do that?"

"You can't?" Riku countered. His grip on the card tightened.

"I can," the replica lied, fighting back the blush on his face. "I'm just... surprised you can too."

"_I didn't know Riku could open a portal – I thought it was something only the Organization could do. They almost never carried Castle Oblivion cards because they didn't need them to move around like I did."_ He drew into Riku's memories, but found nothing to support his claims. However the replica was certain that Riku was telling the truth. "_They probably took them out so that I wouldn't know how to get away."_

"I've done it a few times," added Riku, "but if you don't know what you're doing it's dangerous to travel the corridors without a vessel."

"I know that," he growled, despite not having any idea what Riku meant.

A smirk crossed Riku's face as he appended, "You also need a strong heart to bend the darkness to your side so it doesn't consume you. If a fake heart was enough, you would have gotten out by now."

The replica flinched as Vanitas' words resounded in his mind. "_If your life was worth anything, you would be able to fight back."_

"But instead you had to be a coward," continued Riku icily, "you hurt my friend when he hadn't done anything to you."

"_I haven't done anything to you either and you want to kill me just for daring to exist. I didn't ask to be created, Riku."_

A curt reply played on his lips as the replica caught Riku's eyes straying behind him. This situation had once again become was uncomfortably familiar. Abruptly the replica realized that Riku was goading him into losing focus while waiting for his friend to wake up. It was the trick the replica had tried less than two hours ago on Vanitas. He growled and pressed Soul Eater into Riku's neck. Riku winced as blood dribbled down into his collar. "Give me the card!"

With a hard glare, Riku again held up the card. The replica was about to make a grab for it when he realized a problem. His body was the exact same size as Riku's, making it impossible to tower over him the way that Axel had done. While Axel had been able to hold down both of the replica's wrists in one hand while still have two fingers free to dangle a chakram, the replica would either have to lower Soul Eater and risk Riku overpowering him or relinquish Dark Firaga and lose his leverage.

Cautiously he flexed his grip on Riku's sword and moved his hand slightly away from Riku's friend, intending to snatch the card from Riku as quickly as he could manage. The replica held his breath, hoping that Riku would never notice the lapse.

He did.

A sickening crack echoed through the hallway as Riku's knee connected with his ribs. A swift punch to his injured shoulder followed. The replica screamed as he was tackled to the floor and both swords were ripped from him. Suddenly Riku was sitting on top of him, his knees pinning the replica's hands to the floor and suspending Soul Eater over his chest.

Struggling violently to throw Riku off him, the replica's eyes darted around for his sword. He finally found it trapped under Riku's foot. Desperately, he turned back and locked eyes with Riku. His face was an impenetrable mask as the blade began to tremble in his taunt hands.

"Do it!" spat the replica. "Just get it over with!"

An eerie calm spread across Riku's face. His eyes fluttered shut as he inhaled deeply. The scent of a suffocating darkness began to choke the room as Riku shifted his weight forward. Wordlessly, Riku twisted the replica's head to the side and exposed his neck. The replica flinched when he felt cold metal press along the curve of his jaw.

"Just get it over with," he repeated in a hushed whisper.

"I'm afraid, replica, that the peace of death will have to evade you for a while longer."

The replica started at the sound. He tried to look up, but was restrained by strong hands. The voice had been Riku's and the words had been delivered from his lips, but there was another quality to it. Another voice with a deep, commanding tone had overlain Riku's. The replica recognized the scent – something else was in control.

The voice continued speaking as Riku's finger trailed along the wound left by the shield. "He was wrong – your heart is stronger than even you know."

Seized firmly in place, the replica could do little more than shift his gaze to meet his assailant. The replica fought back a gasp; Riku's eyes – his eyes – now swam with gold.

"And I have now realized that you could be of use to me," said the voice as Riku's face contorted into a thin smile. "We could always use a spare."

The blade sliced into his skin. The replica could not fight the scream that was ripped from him. He felt a terrible cold enter through the wound, rushing through his body and settling in his heart like a poison. In desperation, he lurched sideways and, to his shock, toppled Riku off of him. Riku scrambled to his feet and backed away slowly.

"W-what did you do to me?!" The replica pushed himself off the ground and frantically traced along the gash Riku had made. It was difficult to tell with his glove on, though the replica was certain that Riku had added another slash to cross the first one. He pressed his hand to the spot and nearly retched.

Staring at his hands in horror, Riku barely seemed to acknowledge him. "I thought it was under control," he whispered in shock.

"Well, clearly it wasn't. Tell what that was!" the replica quickly recalled Soul Eater to his hand. He tried to straighten, but felt his vision swim. The replica shuddered.

"_First Vanitas and now this… I really can't take much more."_

Riku finally looked up and the replica could see the terror in his eyes give way to fury. With a roar, Riku cloaked his blade in darkness and lunged at him. The replica parried, feeling Riku straining against him as their swords locked. Riku knocked the replica's blade aside with a rotation of his wrist and summoned Dark Firaga in his other hand.

The replica tried to think quickly as Riku lunged. He grounded his weight just as Riku struck. His sword deflected against the replica's Dark Barrier. Shattering his shield, the replica created a minor shockwave that forced Riku back across the hallway. The replica panted in exhaustion and a swift glance told him that Riku was doing the same.

"This is my fault," he gasped under his breath in a voice the replica could hardly make out, "I have to fix this before anyone else gets hurt."

The replica said nothing, only tightening his grip on Soul Eater as he charged. Riku too lunged for him with his sword raised, pulsating with a level of darkness the replica never thought he could match. He braced himself for the cold clang of metal on metal. Suddenly he saw Riku halt.

"Look out!"

For reasons the replica would never understand, he listened and pulled back. Axel's chakram sailed right past his nose imbedded itself in the wall. It vanished in a spark of fire and returned to its owner's hand as Axel ascended the stairway to their floor.

Knowing that his situation had abruptly become far direr, the replica could not help but smirk at his handiwork. A heavy purple bruise was already forming along his nose and under his eyes, and his skin had turned sickly pale with an underlying greenish hue. Axel looked like he had seen better days.

Axel pointed a chakram at him and snarled, "Alright, I really don't have time for this so you're -" he cut himself off, glancing anxiously to the side and suddenly making eye contact with Riku. He spun to the side, pointing his chakram in Riku's direction and then back to the replica. Axel's eyes darted rapidly between the two of them. "Oh you've got to be kidding," he muttered darkly.

The replica's mind raced as he glanced around as carefully as he could, not wanting Riku or Axel to realize what he was thinking. Finally found what he was looking for – the Castle Oblivion card, lying forgotten under the shadow of a pillar.

"Look, I am really not in the mood for dealing with both of you. I'm only here for the replica, so - ugh," Axel's eyes rolled back as he groaned. He doubled over at the waist, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. When he reopened them, the replica noticed that his left eye was facing a different direction than his right.

"What happened to your face?"

Axel straightened instantly, staring intently between the two Rikus, clearly believing that whichever one had asked the question had to be the real one. However it was the replica who had spoken and Axel responded exactly as he had hoped.

Though it appeared to cause him pain, Axel's eyes narrowed as he gestured between them with the chakram. "Don't play dumb – you know which one of you did this."

"_But you don't. You can't tell us apart."_

The replica was certain that in normal conditions, Axel would have picked him out in an instant and he would have been incinerated by now. However his broken nose was obviously affecting his vision and concentration. The replica hoped it would stay that way for at least a minute longer.

He tilted himself sideways make it slightly more difficult to tell which one of them was covered in blood, dust, and Heartless drool. Riku shifted too, glancing frantically between Axel and his replica; Riku's darkness was roaring from him as he prepared to be the target of a three-way clash. The replica, however, was not planning for their confrontation to get that far.

There was a soft moan to his left as Riku's friend finally began to stir. Riku heard it too and turned his attention away from the replica for a second too long. The replica unleashed a sharp blast of Dark Firaga straight into to Riku's side. Riku was flung across the room and smashed hard into a pillar.

Pointing down at Riku's dazed form with his sword, the replica addressed Axel. "I'll save you some time - that's the replica."

The replica felt certain that the ear-splitting "WHAT" that erupted from the floor would have been hilarious in any other situation. As it was, he instead rolled his eyes and turned towards Riku with a look of disdain.

"Nice try, fake," he said coldly, using the derogatory name Riku had called him earlier. It had the desired effect as a quick glance out of the corner of his eye told him that Axel was now honing his attention more on Riku.

"No, I'M Riku. You're the fake!"

The replica shrugged as he cautiously picked the discarded Castle Oblivion card off the ground. "Think whatever you like – it doesn't make a difference to me."

The replica could not have planned Riku's response better if he tried. "You turned yourself invisible," he shouted furiously, "that's not something a real human being could do."

Giving Axel a sigh, the replica said, "I think it's breaking down. It was going on about voices it was hearing before you showed up." With a dismissive wave of his hand to Axel, the replica fixed Riku with a cold stare and added, "Anyway, feel free to take out the trash."

He was positive that he was playing up Riku's hatred far more than necessary to the point he wasn't sure he was even being Riku anymore. But he wanted there to be no doubt left in Axel's mind; the template of Riku in his memories was extraordinarily arrogant and it was likely that Axel believed that his inflated sense of pride would have prevented the replica from talking about himself in such a disparaging manner even with his life at risk.

To the contrary, the replica found it incredibly easy.

Riku started to run at him, but Axel summon a quick fireball to block his path. Concentrating all of his abilities to sense for any other movements in case Axel changed his mind while the replica's back was turned, he held up the card and watched as the door began to glow. Finally it opened wide.

Feeling Riku's stare on his back, the replica was halfway through the door when he said, "By the way… you'll never deserve her."

Meaning Naminé, the replica had intended that line to be the final scrap of evidence Axel needed to condemn Riku. What he had not expected was for Riku to suddenly attempt to use Dark Aura to get to him. The replica had to throw himself through the doorframe to escape his wrath and had to slam his full body weight against the door to shut it before he made it through. He heard Riku crash against the door, making the entire structure shudder. A second later he sensed Axel flying at Riku and heard the sound his chakrams clashing against Soul Eater.

He knew Riku was not in any real danger. It would take about thirty seconds before Axel would be able to pause their fight long enough to realize what had happened, and by that time Riku's friend would have woken up to help him. But the replica had wagered that Riku would not let him leave easily, especially if he had known what role Axel had played in the Organization's deception of Sora and Naminé. And even with his injury, Axel was strong enough to defend himself against Riku. Eventually, the replica guessed, they would realize that they had a common goal and would come to an understanding. The replica hoped he had delayed that conversation long enough for him to get to safety.

The replica knew that he did not want either of them to die in the fight, though he figured that he would probably not be adverse to them suffering major injuries, such as the loss of all their limbs, which would prevent them from coming after him.

The replica turned around slowly, knowing that if he had merely reached another floor in Castle Oblivion he would have no hope left. He gave a heavy sigh in relief. The hallway that lay ahead was bigger and more elaborate than the others. But more importantly, at the end of it stood an ornate white door that was very different from any of the others in Castle Oblivion. The replica knew he had to have found the way out.

Reaching his hand out to the door to push it open, he was suddenly struck with a thought that made him freeze. Even now, the replica could not let her go. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to.

"_She hates you, don't forget that. None of it was real."_ His eyes travelled towards the ceiling, reflecting on the image of Sora in the metal flower and knowing that his being there had to be Naminé's doing. "_I know it's what she wanted and I just… I just hope that she's happy up there with him. And she has Riku too now. With the two of them, the life she wanted can be her reality."_ He tried to smile the way he had done when he had left her on the thirteenth floor, but his lips, or perhaps his heart, would not allow it.

Chasing Naminé from his mind as best he could manage, the replica slammed his body against the massive door. Slowly it opened and he felt a rush of cool air rush against his face and ruffle his hair. Riku's memories had told him how wind was supposed to feel, but it felt much gentler, much sweeter than those memories could recall.

With a deep breath, the replica took his first step beyond the castle walls. Gravel, sand, and rock crunched under his feet. He had to pause in amazement at the sound and texture. In Riku's memories the ground was always flat and even, but now he could feel how there were tiny rocks beneath his shoes. Some were larger, and those he could feel more clearly, while others were smaller, sinking into the sand. Again the wind tickled his skin and hair as he kept one foot firmly entrenched beyond the castle and the other still lingering in the doorway.

"_Is this what real feels like?"_

Even though he knew he was being pursued, the replica wanted to just stay in that moment forever, taking his first breath of real air and feeling real earth below. Sensing Axel, Riku, and his friend halting their battle, he quickly stepped outside and slammed the heavy door shut. Turning around, the replica got his first look at the outside of Castle Oblivion and raised his eyebrows quizzically.

The inside of the Castle had been orderly; each floor was pure white and identical to the next. But the outside was a pale brown, sitting on jutting cliff side set against a dark, swirling violet sky. Towers jutted out at odd angles from the rooftop, giving the castle the appearance of something a child had chaotically slapped together with building blocks and then turned on its side.

Again he turned around. Before him was a winding dirt path that seemed to stretch into nowhere. Despite the urgency, he hesitated. Behind him lay everything he knew and ahead the path looked bleak and lonely. Instinctively he reached into his pocket and nudged his fingers against the Destiny Islands card.

"_Bye Sora, Naminé. Even though I was never meant to be a part of your lives, I hope we can meet again. I know you won't remember me… or won't want to… but I promise that one I'll be worthy of knowing you." _

Not daring himself to look back, the replica darted down the road with a single thought guiding his way.

"_I'm free." _

* * *

When I was coming up with the scenarios I wanted to use with the Riku Replica's character, I came up with a list of both positive and negative personality traits he would have. I tried to make a lot of them stand out in this chapter.

For instance, he is very courageous, daring, chivilrous, clever, strong etc.

But on the flip side, he is also obsessive (putting Sora and Naminé on a massive pedastal and trying to impress them), agressive (seen in his fight with Riku), and more than a little hostile.

However, the main thing I want to address regarding his flaws is his crippling sense of negative self-worth. He is furious that others think of him like an object, but doesn't realize that he thinks of himself the same way. This comes out continuously in the fight with Riku and nearly every time he mentions Sora and Naminé. As an example, the replica doesn't even consider trying to talk to him. He has no idea that he made an earlier bad impression and for all he knows Riku is just freaked out that he suddenly has a twin. He is so set in the idea that Riku will never see him as anything worthwhile that he just knows automatically that Riku will kill him - an alternative never even crosses his mind. Another example is when he becomes ebarassed by how he looks in the dark suit - he is just ashamed of how he looks in general. Overcoming this will be his biggest challenge throughtout the story.

(I also want to note that Riku automatically told the replica to get out of the way - Riku just has a natural tendency to care about people and its hard to ignore)

Oh, yeah, and if you're enjoying the story so far please leave a review :D


	6. Rep

i was going to wait until Saturday to post this, but it was done, so I figured why mot post it now. This is one of my favourite chapters even thought it is also one of the shorter ones (by like a negligible amount). It was supposed to go with the previous chapter and act as a contrast to the frantic violence of that one, but Chapter 4 got too long so I had to split it up. This one is a lot more emotional and quieter than that one, but I think that it is much more important in the long-run. I'm sure by the chapter title, everyone has figured out why.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Final Fantasy. All are the properties of their respective owners.

* * *

**5**

Rep

For hours the replica ran past an unchanging landscape, no longer able to marvel in wonder at how the air felt as it dried his throat raw while he craved for water, nor how the hard ground crunched below his aching feet as he traversed hill after hill. The road before him seemed to swim as exhaustion threatened to claim him. But the replica was certain that the path had to be leading somewhere. Over and over he would promise himself, "_One more hill, just one more hill and they won't find you."_

But the longer he ran the farther from truth that seemed. The winding road, it seemed, was succeeding in taking him away from the castle but was leading him deeper into nothingness. He had hoped to find something, anything, at its end.

Several times he had halted and attempted to open a portal by the roadside. Each time merely ended with him having to lower his arm, feeling angrier by the second with the knowledge that Riku would never have encountered this setback, and continue running.

His body was drained, his lungs ached, and his strength had all but withered away. He wanted to collapse on the side of the road and convince himself that it was over, that Axel had given up searching. Or maybe that Zexion had returned to wherever he called home and was now leading the rest of the Organization against Axel.

Or against him.

With a growl, he shook the idea from his head. "_I need a sign. Just something to tell me I'm going the right way."_

Suddenly he saw a flash of green on the ground. It was so small and went by so quickly that he wasn't sure it had really been there. But then he saw another, followed by another. The replica slowed enough to realize that they were single blades of grass poking through rocks and dirt. The replica hoped with all his heart that their presence meant that he was getting close to water.

He tore up a large hill, panting fiercely. The grass was slowly becoming more abundant as he neared the top, revealing itself in clumps rather than individual blades. With numb legs, the replica rounded the hill's crest. He gave a mixed sigh of relief and disappointment at the sight that greeted him. Beyond the hill lay a vast field full that was full of grass dancing through the soft breeze in light waves, only broken by the path he was on crossing with three others. He could not make out any puddles or streams, or any end in sight to the road that lay before him, but the field looked so inviting that the replica knew he had to stop and finally rest.

The replica slowed to a walk as he reached the crossroads, their implication of the choice he would soon have to make hanging over him. Carefully he sat down on a large boulder, laying Soul Eater propped against it so that he could quickly grab for it. The replica took many deep breaths to soothe his aching lungs, though his throat was still parched and rough. Feeling suffocated by the skin-tight material, he allowed the dark suit to dissolve around him until he was left in a sleeveless yellow top, adorned with a black X that stretched from his shoulders to his hips, and a pair of baggy, waterproof blue waders that protected his jeans.

He focused all of his attention on searching for hostile scents. There were none, though he did not discount the possibility of Axel or the Heartless using a portal to reach him. Yet as the night's soft breeze rustled through his hair and along his aching muscles, the replica felt safe. It was not a feeling he knew or even understood.

"_Stop it,"_ he ordered himself the moment he felt his concentration relax. His fingers twitched towards Soul Eater's handle as the wind swished through the grassy field; the sound could potentially mask approaching footsteps or a portal opening. "_Focus. You don't have time to waste here."_

The replica suddenly realized how unpleasantly hot he felt in two pairs of pants after running for so long. He tried to rip off the outer layer, but found that his shoes were too large for them to easily go over. Tucking his legs up on the rock, the replica kicked off his shoes and ripped off the waders, leaving him feeling much more comfortable in only his jeans. Satisfied, he stretched out his shaking legs and let his bare feet fall forward. The replica gasped when they touched the ground.

"_Grass."_

It felt incredible – alive – and far more wonderful than Riku's memories showed him. He waved his toes gently through the grass until he could bear the curiosity no longer and, almost timidly, slid off the rock and onto the ground. After the stone walls of the castle, it was the most incredible thing he had ever felt. The replica flopped onto his stomach and lay his hand hovering flat over the ground. Back and forth he waved it so that the tips of each blade only just brushed his bare skin. He marveled at the sensation, biting back a grin as it tickled his palm.

Stretching farther, his hand ran over something round and smooth. Curiously he grabbed for it and by closing his fist around it, he could tell it was a small stone. He pushed himself up onto his elbow and absently began to sketch using the ground as his canvas. Soon swirls, circles, and stars decorated the thick grass in front of him. When he had all but run out of space, he pulled his arm back tossed the rock as far as he could manage. It sailed over Soul Eater and landed out of view with a soft plink. Before he could stop himself, the replica let a small laugh escape him. He quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, feeling childish and stupid.

"_I don't have time for this."_

At once the pleasant breeze turned bitingly cold. The replica's eyes narrowed as he rose and brushed some loose strands of grass from his hair and clothes. Axel certainly would not have given up searching for him, and the next time they met it would be unlikely that he would come unaccompanied.

With a sigh, the replica sank back down on the boulder and retrieved Soul Eater. "_I'll never be able to stop running. Not until this is over."_

It would never end, he knew, until either he or the entire Organization fell. He twirled the sword's handle idly between his fingertips as he considered the crossroads. One road, he knew, led back to Castle Oblivion. Even in desperation, the replica knew he would rather give himself up to Axel than set foot in his prison again. The other three were mysteries, though no one looked less dark and lonely than the other.

"_But where am I supposed to run to? No matter where I go…"_

"I'll always be a replica."

Slowly the replica turned towards the centre of crossroads. Using the tip of Soul Eater, he scratched his title into the dirt where the roads met. Riku Replica. He stared mutely at the words, his eyes settling first on 'Riku' then 'Replica'.

"Riku," he read with a lump in his throat. The cross shaped wound on his jaw began to twinge as he spoke. "That could have been my name if I had defeated you back there or even just listened to Axel and gone along with his plan. I could have just taken your place. I have all of your memories and it's not like Sora could tell the difference before. I could have had everything I ever wanted."

Gritting his teeth, he snapped at the crisp air, almost wishing that Riku could hear him. "I could have been more than your shadow. I could have been you…" he laughed bitterly, correcting himself, "No, I could have been me."

He kicked Riku's name, reducing it once again to shadowy earth. He turned back to the remaining word - Replica. "But then what would I be? Nothing. Just someone who could never deserve Sora and Naminé's friendship. Someone who would have to live with the knowledge of what I am and what I'd done forever."

He sighed, and gathered dark flames in his hand. "Whatever you've felt before, whatever you have to be sorry for, it could never be anything like this. You're lucky, Riku. It must be so easy being real. You know who you are." He brought his hand down, defeated, as the fireball darted to the ground and assailed the word. Watching it burn gave him a grim sense of satisfaction.

He rose from the ground as the fire dissipated from the word. He prepared to walk away, fearing that he had already spent too much time so near the castle. Axel was surely not far behind and with the corridors of darkness at his disposal, at any moment he could find a chakram buried in his back.

The replica turned around slowly, recognizing that his drawings would be an obvious clue for anyone following him. He walked over to them and kicked them, smudging in the dirt so that it did not look so obvious.

Lightly he stepped back to the rock, wanting to leave as little an impression as possible. He knelt down to retrieve his discarded items when he noticed something left behind. When he had attempted to burn away the word 'Replica' he failed to complete the task and half of the word still remained etched in the ground. With a sigh, he set about erasing it, crouching down and preparing to wipe it away with his hand. However his hand stopped, immobilized, with his fingers hovering over the top of the R. Gently he traced along the letters that had endured.

"Rep," he read quietly. His heart began to drum a steady beat as he repeated the word again in his mind. He could scarcely breathe as his eyes locked on the word like nothing else in the world mattered.

The previous words had brought him nothing but pain: Riku - the one whose mere existence forced him into a shadow from which he could never escape, and Replica - the sad truth of his identity. But from that title had come Rep. It was a word that was born from replica, yet was entirely his own – just as he was from Riku.

The replica knew would never be Riku

But he could become Rep.

A smile spread across his face, spreading warmly to his eyes and touching his heart. He had a name. His body and memories had been manufactured, but he now had a name of his own - a name that had chosen for himself. He knew that no one could take that away from him. Rep wrapped his arms around his body, feeling the comforting beat of his heart in his chest, as the magnitude of what he'd done began to take root.

"_I have a name,"_ Rep told himself proudly, like if he stopped saying the words the reality would fade. For the first time he was grateful for the ability to experience every one of his emotions so completely; he never knew it was possible to feel this happy. "_I have a name now."_

The breeze tousled his hair comfortingly as he took a deep breath and knew what he had to do. The world he was in appeared vast, empty, and endless, a series of winding paths with no end in sight. He had to try again to open a portal. He understood now why he had been unable to do it before. He remembered the sense of despair that had clutched him when Axel had pushed him through the portal and, in the back of his mind, recalled Riku's voice telling him that his heart would never be strong enough to walk them unscathed. He had unknowingly agreed with Riku then.

But everything had changed. He had a name now, and that made all the difference.

Rep slipped his shoes and socks back on and slung the waders over his arm. He rose from the rock and stood in the centre of the crossroads with his feet touching the edges of his name. "_Let them find it,"_ he thought. "_Let them know who I am."_

Mimicking Axel's movements from the hallway, Rep flicked his wrist again and expected a portal to appear. Nothing happened, but Rep refused to be discouraged. With a deep breath, he summoned all of his darkest power, feeling the tide grow as it threatened to engulf him. But Rep knew that he had the will to control it and felt the surging rush of darkness travel through the length of his arm to release through his palm. Like he was calling the night sky itself to his aid, a portal opened right before his eyes.

"_Even if I am just a replica and no world will accept me, I'll never know what I can become if I stay here. I have to know what's out there."_

Rep did not try to lower his arm, fearing that it would close. The portal seemed endless, a swirling pool of icy blackness, welcoming him into its depths. He did not wait any longer, realizing that he had gone too far to even consider turning back, and stepped forward into the dark maw.

A scream was wrenched from his lips as the world crashed around him.

* * *

_The World That Never Was_

Echoes reverberated coldly throughout the hall of the Castle That Never Was as Zexion limped in the direction of the altar, upon which he would surely find Organization XIII's Superior, Xemnas. He had exited his portal in the throne room hoping to find him there, yet it was empty. Zexion focused and caught the Superior's scent at the altar, several floors above. He coughed, irritating his bruised neck in the process. Every muscle in his body was stressed from the effort just to move. The battle with Riku had nearly destroyed him and the replica's assault had robbed him of what little strength he had left. Zexion licked his dry lips, heaving as he climbed the seemingly endless stairway. He was far too weak to open another portal even with his coat protecting him from the tides of darkness.

A single, solitary thought was what allowed him to force his injured body to keep moving. He had to report the betrayal. He had to find Xemnas. Axel had tried to kill him, though for what reasons he did not know. However, Axel's motives were of little consequence. He had committed a sin of the highest order against their founders. And he would pay.

Yes, Axel would pay dearly. Demotion to a lowly Dusk, a subservient being to the Organization, would be too kind a punishment. And Xemnas certainly was not known for his compassion. He was far too smart for that, knowing that anyone would deem it as a sign of weakness and be as foolish as Marluxia to believe he could usurp him.

Zexion almost laughed. To think that that Marluxia thought he could unseat their Superior, even with the Keyblade bearer at his side was ridiculous. Did he really think that Xemnas would not be prepared? But then, owning the power of the Keyblade was enthralling, as Zexion knew, having himself had tried to use Riku's powers as a counter. And it was that plan that left him in such a predicament.

Yes, Zexion thought, Axel would pay, as would the replica who took him by the throat and tried to wrench his power, and with that his life, from him.

And yet, Zexion pondered, that very replica was not only the one who spared him but the one who saved him. Zexion had regrettably been at its mercy, yet it chose to disobey Axel. Why had it done that? Was it possible that the replica had developed beyond the parameters that Vexen had set forth for it?

Zexion shook his head. Impossible. The creature was a lowly replica. If a Nobody by its very nature did not exist, than what was a replica created by a Nobody? Nothing, or rather, it was less than nothing. And through its treasonous actions it had committed the ultimate crime against its creators. Axel was at least a member of the Organization and permitted to wear the coveted cloak. The replica was at best little more than a slave, as were the others of its kind. It was simply a failed experiment. A malfunction.

Grudgingly Zexion had to admire the replica's resilience. He knew it had survived Castle Oblivion. From within his own corridor, Zexion had caught the replica's scent in another. Although they had fled hours apart, whatever force caused the temporal differences between worlds had allowed them to traverse the corridors at the same time. Both the replica and its original similarly had the ability to identify others by their scent, however Zexion's ability to use that power was much more acute. Therefore, he also knew that the replica had not been alone in his corridor. Zexion had noted the presence of two others.

He had sensed the replica's scent diminishing rapidly as theirs had grown. Zexion had recognized the stronger scent instantly; he was a being with much greater command over darkness than the replica could ever have hoped to possess. The other, though unknown, seemed familiar somehow. As such, he had been certain that one of them would have devoured the replica. However, once again surprising him, the replica managed to open up another portal and escape as its last flickers of life were dimming.

The replica was gone for now. Yet the problem of Axel remained. But he was not overly concerned. Axel would be destroyed and the replica would fall in time. Zexion himself would see to that.

Zexion could not help but allow a smirk to escape him. Around him were twelve headstones – one for each member of the Organization, depicting their individual weapon and numerical rank. As Nobodies left nothing behind when they were killed the room had been erected as a sort of mock celebration of their lives and they had aptly called this place "Proof of Existence". Only a few weeks ago the headstones had been pristine, yet now four were red and damaged. They marked the defeats of Vexen, Larxene, Marluxia, and Lexaeus. Soon Axel would be joining them.

Zexion was suddenly aware of another being using a portal to enter the room with him. His senses told him before he saw it with his eyes that the new arrival was Saïx.

Zexion reached out to Saïx. Finally someone had come for him. He would have preferred Xemnas himself, or even Xigbar, as he was loathe to trust the Lunar Diviner. There was just something about him that Zexion disliked. He always felt a chill whenever he laid eyes on the X shaped scar that lay between two taciturn, yellow eyes. Zexion himself was cold, calculating and silent, yet something about Saïx just never seemed right. Nobodies were not human, yet Saïx somehow seemed even less so. Zexion had never mentioned his suspicions to anyone as he usually kept to himself, preferring to keep his innermost thoughts beneath a cloak of secrecy.

Zexion suspected that some of the other members had spread stories that Zexion was jealous of Saïx's closeness to Xemnas. Zexion had always regarded that with derision. He could not feel jealousy, nor any other emotion of the sort. Such ridiculous displays of a false emotion would come from Vexen or the younger members who had not yet grasped the gravity of their existence, not from him. However, on more than one occasion, Zexion had to admit to himself that he frowned upon how close a neophyte had gotten into their inner circle. That was why he had been surprised, but pleasantly so, when Xemnas had put him in charge of Castle Oblivion. Marluxia, of course, had thought he was granted such an honour, but Zexion knew the truth. Xemnas would never have been so foolish, and that was why he had entrusted Zexion to watch over Marluxia.

Zexion had tried to do something even better than what Xemnas had requested once Riku had mysteriously appeared at the castle. If Marluxia was going to use Sora, Zexion would control Riku. Then, when Marluxia inevitably fell, Zexion and the Organization would own both of the Keyblade wielders. If they could accomplish that, there would be no need for the two most recent members.

"Axel has betrayed us," Zexion snapped, scarcely able to see Saïx through the bangs falling across his eyes. "He has killed at least one in our number and then used the replica to attack me."

Saïx was one of the few who knew of the replica program. Only Xemnas, Saïx, Xigbar, Zexion himself, and of course Vexen knew the finer details of it. The others brought to Castle Oblivion, Lexaeus, Larxene, Marluxia, and Axel, likely believed that the Riku Replica they encountered was the only one of its kind. If only they knew that another was currently infiltrating their number, posing as a member under the coat.

"And what happened to Axel?"

Zexion scowled. "I don't know. To my knowledge he escaped. At least providing the replica allowed it." A part of Zexion was sincerely wishing that the replica and Axel would have finished each other off.

For the first time since he had begun, Saïx appeared interested in his story. "What?"

Zexion tried to comprehend his tone. Had Saïx been capable of emotions, Zexion would have considered it to be apprehensive. Somehow this pleased him. "Yes. Axel called the replica to attack, yet it disobeyed orders and turned on him."

"So it acted on its own accord?"

"Precisely."

If Saïx was surprised at Zexion's news, he certainly did nothing to show it. "I see," he said softly. "It will have to be retrieved immediately."

"But that doesn't matter!" cried Zexion. "Axel betrayed me – betrayed the Organization! And your only concern is the state of the replica! Don't you want to know what happened to Axel?"

Saïx sighed and said, "Think, Zexion. Why would Axel do something like that? Does he not know the consequences for such a deed?"

Returning to what Axel had said, Zexion replied, "He said that I knew too much." He was becoming frustrated with Saïx's insolence. Did Saïx not see the state he was in?

"I see," Saïx repeated with a cutting edge. As he spoke, Zexion felt an unmistakable dark aura surrounding Saïx. "And I have to say that I agree. You are in our way."

It was if his entire body had completely frozen over. "Our way?" he whispered.

Saïx's long, cobalt hair stood on end. His eyes began to glow as he inhaled deeply while his smile grew wider as his entire face scrunched, as if to allow it room. He stared at Zexion, unblinking, with that unsettling smile never leaving his face as he summoned his claymore.

Zexion gripped the closest headstone and slowly rose to his feet. "What are you-"

Saïx roared as his claymore stuck Zexion across the chest. He screamed, having no opportunity to block it and was thrown like a doll across the room. Zexion smashed hard into something and felt it crack behind his back. He cried out in pain as he lay helplessly against whatever he had hit. He looked back and saw it was a headstone.

His headstone.

Saïx approached him. Zexion furiously reached into his cloak for his lexicon. Saïx caught the movement and smashed Zexion's hand, snapping his wrist and throwing the book beyond his reach. Zexion howled and cradled his broken wrist. He could not move nor could he summon any strength to form an illusion to hide him. There would be no escape. No one in the Organization was coming to save him and the replica would not appear again to help. Zexion turned his head up to his assailant. There was no pity in those eyes.

Saïx snarled and raised his claymore. "Where is the replica?"

"W-what?" gasped Zexion. His gaze darted between the claymore clutched above him and Saïx's furious eyes.

"TELL ME WHERE IT IS?!"

Zexion's breath hitched. He had been able to sense in those few, fleeting moments where it was headed. He knew the world well enough, as did Saïx. However, he could offer more than that. In those agonizing moments in which the replica had attempted to drain his life it had unwittingly taken something else from him as well. It was something that would, provided the replica had the intelligence and skills to utilize it properly, make it much more difficult to find. Zexion opened his mouth to reveal its location. But before the words could leave him, he stopped.

The Organization had failed and betrayed him. It was the replica who had saved his life and now shared his gifts. The rage in Saïx's eyes was proof enough that merely giving the information he sought would not be enough to spare him.

"The moon is full tonight, isn't it, Saïx? Interesting that you can experience such lunacy… a loss of control from something so simple." Zexion smirked despite the unbearable pain and flipped the hair away from his eye to face Saïx directly. "Your reign is slipping. And though I won't be the one to cause your downfall, I have guaranteed that it is inevitable."

Saïx roared and slammed his claymore across Zexion's chest once more. He had lost the ability to scream. His headstone shattered as Zexion was thrust through it. Zexion lay on his back with shards of the broken stone underneath him. The ceiling became blurred as if he were underwater. Above him Saïx appeared.

"Where is it?" Saïx whispered in a disturbingly even tone. He raised the claymore above Zexion, letting it hang directly above where his heart would have been.

"You'll never find him," Zexion spat. "But he will find you!"

Saïx laughed and plunged his claymore downward.

* * *

_Notes:_

_I wanted to draw attention to the fact that, in his last lines, Zexion was the first person apart from Rep himself to call Rep 'he/him' rather than 'it'. _

_Also who else took years to realize that Riku in KH1 was wearing two pairs of pants?_

_I hope that everyone is okay with Rep's new name! Several years ago I was typing up the ending script to both parts of the original CoM for a friend and called Riku 'Riku' and his replica 'Rep' to make it easier. The name kind of stuck. When researching for this story, I came across a lot of other names like Repliku, Liku, Nisemono/Nise, but Rep has always been my favourite. If you like something else, I promise it will grow on you ;)_

_In the last chapter I mentioned that one of the character's major problems would be overcoming his cripplingly low self-esteem. As such, I tried to bring it up more so in this chapter to highlight the significance of the choice he makes. For instance, when in the field he starts to feel safe for the first time in his life. However, he doesn't understand what it's like to not feel angry or afraid for and extended period (even if it is only a few minutes), and as such starts feeling angry and afraid. He doesn't know why, but thinks that he should feel bad and therefore must be doing something wrong. Then he notices the grass and lets his curiosity take over him. For the first time in his life he starts just relaxing and playing, like the child he never was. But again, the moment he realizes that he's enjoying himself, he becomes ashamed. He has no idea why he feels bad, or even that he's forcing it on to himself, he just knows that he does. The other time that he technically has fun is when he starts skating on the shield, but that is in the middle of battle so he doesn't have time to reflect on it and tell himself it's wrong._

_Giving himself a name was his first big step, which is why I wanted it to happen in the crossroads. Also note that Rep doesn't take a specific path - instead he uses a portal at their centre._

_Notes regarding Zexion's narration: I tried to write it in a different style than Rep's voice to reflect the focal character's personality. Also, Zexion mentions something about the 'temporal difference between worlds'. While this might look like a cheap cop-out way for me to let Zexion give some insight into what happened in the final sentence of Rep's narration (basically jumping into a portal with absolutely no protective garments while there are not one but two people waiting for him to do something dumb like that was probably a bad idea), and to be fair it sort of was, it also brings up an important point. In my opinion it is pretty much canon that the worlds flow through time at different rates - otherwise some of those princesses would look a lot older, yet Hercules ages normally. This will be a small but overarching plot point, but I won't go into it too much now._

_Aaaand Zexion basically explained how Rep turned invisible before. Did anyone guess that? A big part of Rep's journey will be figuring out how to use his new abilities. _

_Please leave a review if you're enjoying the story so far... or if you want to yell at me about Zexion ;)_

_(Booo the site keeps messing up my formatting! Oh well!)_


	7. Hollow Bastion

Okay, so here we go. I'm not 100% happy with this chapter (only like 73.6% happy, to be exact), but I have rewritten it probably four times in the past month and just want to stop looking at it. Just as a side note - this chapter is meant to be a little confusing. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it!

Oh, and an extra-amazing-chocolate-covered-thank-you to everyone who reviewed!

* * *

**6**

Hollow Bastion

_Panting fiercely, Riku tore through the deserted halls of Hollow Bastion's castle. His footsteps were his only company as they resonated along the walls, masking the painful hammering of his own heart. Riku could feel his many injuries weighing on him, slowing him down as they throbbed with each breath and every step. However the cause of his wounds hurt far more than any physical pain could have ever wrought. _

_"W-why? It was mine…" he lamented in a voice that ached with disbelief. _

_His Keyblade was gone. It had been stolen – ripped from his hands – by the one he had called his best friend. Sora was never supposed to wield the Keyblade, and yet it now resided in his possession. He, Riku, was the Keyblade's chosen one and Sora's ownership of it was merely an accident, and one that Riku aimed to correct. He had trusted that Sora would understand and hand it over willingly, knowing in his heart that it was always meant to belong to Riku. But Sora's greed had overtaken him as he instead called the blade back to his unworthy hands and turned it against its true owner. _

_Sora's betrayal hurt more than he could imagine, though somehow it failed to surprise him. Riku knew that Sora had always been jealous of him and should have guessed that Sora _

_Suddenly a voice cut through his thoughts. "Know this," it said, "the heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade." _

_Riku halted his run and spun furiously towards the source. A tall man garbed in a long, black, hooded coat stepped out of the shadows. Riku could not make out his face as it was obscured by his hood, yet felt surprisingly unfazed by his sudden appearance. "What? You're saying my heart's weaker than his?" _

_ "For that instant it was. However, you can become stronger."_

_Riku stepped forward and called Soul Eater to his hands. With a painful twinge of regret, he spared it the slightest glance. It was not a Keyblade but at least it was a weapon he knew how to use. Turning his gaze back towards the visitor, he commanded, "Who are you?"_

_Wordlessly the man reached up and lowered his hood. The simple action caused a small flurry of pink petals to flutter amount the man's face, framing his cold blue eyes and blending with his feathery layers of rosy hair. "My name is Marluxia."_

_Nice effect, Riku thought with a smirk as the flower petals dissipated at Marluxia's feet. _

_"So why are you here?" asked Riku with more assurance that he really felt. Marluxia looked harmless enough, but there was something terribly unsettling about his eyes - they seemed almost blank, like they belonged to a corpse. _

_Marluxia gave thin smile, as if he was laughing at his own joke. "To find is to lose and to lose is to find."_

_Tentatively Riku waited for a continuation of that thought. But Marluxia seemed content to just stand there grinning to himself like he thought he was the cleverest man in the world for that single line. "Are you going to elaborate on that, or…?"_

_A loud shout and a bang interrupted him. Riku tensed as a he heard a squawk and the sound of a thunder spell. He caught the scent of a Defender Heartless fading away and could hear Sora's voice loudly cheering on his friends. They were getting closer. Riku felt his stomach knot at the memory of what Sora had done to him._

_"You lost your friend," said Marluxia as if the sound had called him back to reality. "And your Keyblade with him in a single, fell swoop."_

_Abruptly Riku decided that he really didn't like Marluxia. "I hadn't noticed. Thanks for clearing that up."_

_"To lose is to find and to find is to lose…" Marluxia repeated as that weird smile played again on his lips. "Do you understand now?"_

_Frowning and trying not to roll his eyes, Riku responded, "I lost Sora and my Keyblade, sure, but I don't exactly see how that constitutes me 'finding' anything."_

_Marluxia shook his head. It was an oddly elegant gesture. "Not that you can see – now that you have had everything torn from you, you can finally begin to rebuild. Do you recall the reason you had for leaving your island home?"_

_"I wanted to see other worlds. I knew they just sitting there waiting for me, and I had to know what was out there." His answer was stiff, emotionless, almost like it was practiced. Riku knew it was the truth and yet admitting it to Marluxia made him feel empty and hollow. _

_"You have lost so much," Marluxia said quietly. Riku found it odd that there was not even the slightest touch of sympathy in his tone; Marluxia almost sounded bored. "And that is why I, on behalf of the Organization, have come to take you with me to Castle Oblivion."_

_Riku just stared at him blankly, thinking it had to be some kind of joke. "Why should I go with you? I don't even know anything about you."_

_"To lose is to -"_

_"I heard you the first time," snapped Riku._

_For the first time since he had appeared, Marluxia actually showed the slightest hint of a reaction as his lip curled and his eyes narrowed. "Do not interrupt me again. You will have to learn your place within our ranks."_

_"I never said I was interested in joining up," Riku countered angrily. "I don't know anything about you or your organization and you're just expecting me to follow you to… Castle Oblivion, or whatever you called it. I'm going to need more than that."_

_Marluxia's glare intensified as the ground began to tremble. Vines as thick as Riku's arms tore through the stone floor, seizing Riku's torso and lifting him into the air. The thorns punctured easily through his clothes, cutting into his skin, as the vines encircled him. Struggling only made the pain worse as they curled around his limbs, pinning his legs together and forcing his arms out to the side. Creepers grew across his chest and shoulders, and Riku began to panic as they tightened around his neck. Suddenly the creaking and swishing of the vines halted as Marluxia gave a quick nod. The vines dipped forward, almost like they were bowing, and presented Riku to him._

_Clearing his throat, Marluxia lifted his head to look Riku in the eyes and continued like nothing had happened. "I am the Lord of Castle Oblivion. You have been given the opportunity to witness my dominion over living things first hand and I would advise you not to test me again. Once you enter there, you will be in my realm. However, I intend to make it worth your while. You have lost everything you have ever known or cherished, but in return for your servitude I will return what has been stolen."_

_"So all I have to do is be your slave and you'll get me my Keyblade back? Forget it. I'm not that desperate." Riku cried out as the vines tightened. He lost all feeling in his hands as Soul Eater tumbled from his grasp. Riku suspected that there was some kind of paralyzer in the thorns._

_"I never said anything about your Keyblade, though I cannot deny it will play a part," Marluxia told him. "But answer this - is that truly what you're searching for?"_

_Riku did not even grace him with a reaction. Never before had he loathed someone as much as Marluxia. He hated how helpless he had made him, how Marluxia seemed to know everything about his life, and how he just expected Riku to comply with whatever he wanted with only vague explanations to draw him forward. _

_Marluxia, however, did not appear to be disposed by Riku's lack of a response. "I want you to dive into the deepest recesses of your memories and recall how you became who you are today, the reason why you left on your voyage to other worlds, and remember what you're truly searching for. All I have is a word, a single word that will make you understand everything you have lost and everything you stand to gain." _

_"Try me," snarled Riku._

_Marluxia's cold glare locked on his as the faintest of smiles appeared on his face. "Naminé."_

_The world seemed to end as Riku's heart stopped as his mind unleashed a flood of thousands of memories that had been locked away. Her bright, blue eyes. Her golden hair. The warm, comforting smile that she reserved only for him. _

_Naminé._

_His Naminé. _

_"S-she disappeared," he whispered to himself, momentarily forgetting that Marluxia was even there. "She vanished one night after the meteor shower. But when I tried to find her, no one believed me. They made me think I was crazy, that I was lying. Everyone on the islands said I made her up... that I just made her up. They treated me like there was something wrong with me – even my parents and friends abandoned me. I stopped looking for her, stopped thinking about her because it hurt so much. I forgot about her because it was the only choice I had left." Riku did not even realize he was crying until Marluxia's face began to blur. The years of pain and loneliness seemed to dissipate as Naminé's image became clearer. He could even hear her laugh again. "But she's real. I knew she was real."_

_"She's more than real," Marluxia said. "She's alive. In your heart you knew the truth all along. Ten years of being told that you were lying could not erase your love for her. That was why you left for other worlds - you knew in your heart that she had never really died and had to lie beyond the boundaries of your home. You knew she was waiting for you to save her from her unfortunate fate."_

_"Where is she?"_

_"Castle Oblivion."_

_"I'll go!" Riku cried as he strained against the vines. "I'll do anything! Please, just take me to her."_

_"Do you understand what you are giving up in exchange?"_

_Riku answered with a hollow, bitter laugh as his mind raced with pure adrenaline. "Those islands… I never belonged there. I was always different. The other islanders were just content to live their sad, simple lives. What would they become? Fishermen. Shopkeepers. Teachers. There was nothing else for them. Yet they were content with that." Riku's eyes took on a heard gleam. "But I knew that I was meant for something more. That world was much too small."_

_"Go on," said Marluxia. _

_"No one could see the pain I was going through after Naminé vanished. I'm not turning my back on them – they abandoned me first. Even Sora…" Riku felt a lump in his throat as he continued, "even Sora betrayed me for his new friends. And even if I wanted to go home, the islands are gone. The Heartless took them. I don't have my Keyblade, I don't have any friends or family, I don't have a home… I have nothing left except Naminé." Despite himself, a gentle smile spread across Riku's face as he recalled the face that had been lost to him for so long "She's all I really ever had. Naminé means everything to me."_

_Suddenly the vines released him, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared. Riku landed nimbly on his feet, feeling much stronger than he had ever known possible. He had made his choice. Whatever Marluxia and his organization wanted would be worth the cost just the chance to see her again. _

_"Soon Sora will remember her too. I, myself, will see to that," said Marluxia, almost warningly._

_His eyes narrowed. In his excitement, he had almost forgotten that Naminé had been Sora's friend too. It was Sora's insistence that she was just a figment of his imagination that had hurt the most. But after what had just happened the thought of Sora even being close to Naminé – close enough to take something so precious from him - made him feel sick with anger. "Why? Sora doesn't deserve her." _

_"I thought you would be pleased." Before Riku had a chance to counter, Marluxia explained, "Sora will follow you to Castle Oblivion after you have had the chance to train and hone your dark powers further. Even with the Keyblade at his side, Sora will be unable to stand against you. As long as you follow my orders, Sora will fall to the Organization and the Keyblade will be yours once again. With Naminé by your side, your heart will finally be strong enough to conquer his."_

_Hardly able to believe what he was hearing, Riku called Soul Eater back to him. It looked so ugly and plain compared to the majesty of a Keyblade. But if Marluxia was telling the truth, soon it would be returned to his hands once again. Not only that, but he and Naminé were going to reclaim it together. Riku reached into his pocket and pulled out the soft, yellow, star-shaped toy he had carried with him for as long as he could remember. He knew what it was now._

_"I'll go with you. Whatever it takes to find her, I'll do it."_

_"I'm glad to hear it," said Marluxia, though his inflection failed to change. "I'm going to put you to sleep now. The use of dark corridors is treacherous for the uninitiated."_

_The air surrounding him turned yellow and hazy; Riku was instantly reminded of springtime on the islands when all of the flowers were pollinating. Instantly his eyes began to droop and his legs began to sway. Riku scarcely had time to realize what Marluxia had been saying. "I'm not… ready. Wait…" Riku pitched forward, landing hard against the stone floor. He could sense Marluxia approaching him._

_Slowly Riku, turned his head upwards to face the man. Marluxia's lips opened as if to speak, though his words were instantly silenced by a sudden screech. Falling into slumber without recognizing anything unusual, Riku's eyes closed as light and darkness began to intertwine behind his closed lids. The screech faded as a voice carved through the sudden stillness._

"Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself."

* * *

_Hollow Bastion_

"Aerith! Aerith, wait for me!"

Spinning on her heels, the woman called Aerith turned towards the sound and felt a warm smile grace her lips as she laid eyes on the little girl dashing towards her. Aerith set her staff on the cobblestone path and knelt down with her arms open. The girl leapt straight into her warm embrace. "Good morning, Marlene," said Aerith. "How are you?"

With a cheerful grin, Marlene stepped back. "You dropped this," she said while holding up a long, red ribbon.

Aerith's hand flew to the base of her auburn braid. Sure enough the ribbon that usually tied it in place was missing. Thanking her, Aerith took it from Marlene's outstretched hand and reached back to quickly re-tie her braid, already feeling where it was becoming loose. She was nearly done when she caught Marlene's wide eyes following her every movement with an intense curiosity.

"Say, Marlene," said Aerith with a wink as she unwound her hair and passed the ribbon back to her, "would you like me to do your hair up like this?" The smile that broke across Marlene's face was worth much more than a ribbon, Aerith thought.

"Oh, yes please!" she cried.

Picking her staff up, Aerith beckoned her forward. "Perfect. Let's find somewhere to sit."

A warmth settled in Aerith's chest as she led Marlene through the new Hollow Bastion. Though the city walls and streets were battered and crumbling, there were strong men and women already mending them. The water system was running smoothly, gathering rainfall and runoff from the castle's ancient waterway to ensure clean water for all. Orphans, many of whom had already been adopted years ago, were all being cared for and educated. Even despite the Heartless that roamed the streets, designated fighters were ensuring that the pathways were clear and safe. Through their hard work and perseverance, Hollow Bastion was finally beginning to heal after ten long years.

But, Aerith reminded herself, the streets were not as full and lively as they should have been. Of the Traverse Town refugees who had originally hailed from Hollow Bastion only half of their original number had been able to make it back.

_"Not for long,"_ she promised herself while tightening her grip on the staff. _"One more week and we'll all be home."_

A large family passed by them, waving and grinning at the pair. Aerith knew that parents were not Hollow Bastion natives though had adopted a large number of children while in Traverse Town; when their world had been restored, they had opted to remain and stay with their new family.

But as she watched them pass by, Aerith was hit with a sudden thought – Marlene had come to her alone.

"Marlene," she asked cautiously, "where are John and Terry?"

She quickly answered in that casual, cheerful voice that only a child could manage. "There was an emergency at the power plant and they got called out to fix it. That guy with the long beard, um, Russ, I think, came to get them. They told me to wait inside the house but I saw you drop your ribbon from the window and had to give it back to you. I knew I'd be safe with you."

Aerith glanced away, pretending to be fascinated by a woman selling healing potions and remedies so that Marlene would not see the frown crossing her face. John and Terry were a lively and bright young couple who had never intended to have a child. But after learning of Marlene's tragic and seemingly incessant cycle of being abandoned by her caretakers, they had temporarily relented on their stance and taken her in until a more permanent arrangement could be made.

After Marlene had returned to Hollow Bastion with some of the other orphans, Aerith's best friend, Cloud Strife, had offered to care for her. Many members of the community were hesitant regarding the arrangement as Cloud would be out of the house constantly and working as hard as everyone else, yet instead of construction and farming had the added risk of clearing out Heartless as his profession. However, as only half of the residents had made it home, spaces were scare and families simply could not afford another child.

At first Cloud had surprised everyone with how quickly he adapted to his new roles. In the mornings he would teach Marlene reading and arithmetic, and in the afternoons he would supervise her and the other children while they played. Sometimes he even taught them basic self-defence, instantly earning their respect and admiration. Aerith had laughed when she walked by one day and caught two girls play-fighting with sticks, arguing over which one would get to be Cloud in their game.

Then, after sleeping for a few hours, Cloud would take on the night shift and rid the town of its daily infestation nearly all by himself. Watching Cloud's silhouette as he walked back home in the breaking morning, instantly recognizable by his spiky blond hair and the enormous Buster Sword swung over his shoulder, had quickly become a ritual for the older Hollow Bastion citizens.

But far too soon, Aerith thought, everything had fallen apart.

It started off simply. Marlene had mentioned one day that Cloud was looking unwell. No one considered that to be anything unusual; they were all working exceptionally hard to restore their home, but Cloud had taken on a number of new and additional roles. But two days later Marlene mentioned anxiously that Cloud wasn't speaking to her anymore but could be heard arguing to himself in the darkness of his room. Aerith found that worrying as Cloud had clearly been warming up to the affection he was receiving from everyone in Hollow Bastion.

Like the rest of them, Cloud had been the victim of an extraordinary amount of trauma that had left him with heavy emotional scars. However, unlike the rest, Cloud had managed to escape the confines of Traverse Town and disappeared for nearly two years. When he had returned to Hollow Bastion after the fall of Maleficent, Aerith and the others had scarcely recognized the worn and hardened young man who appeared before them.

Cloud had become distant and cold, often staring off into the distance for no reason and flinching for his sword every time he heard footsteps approaching. He refused to explain what had happened in the time that was gone and would change the subject or leave the room if it was brought up. Even Aerith had faltered when he asked to take Marlene. Within minutes, however, she could see a light return to Cloud's eyes and he looked almost years younger. Aerith knew she had made the right decision.

However, the next two weeks had become a nightmare for Cloud's friends as more and more horrifying stories of his recent behavior began to come to light. A frightened man claimed that Cloud had nearly stabbed him while walking home from the quarry at night, children admitted that he would often whisper to himself while watching them, and adults thought he was looking sickly and angry.

Marlene, however, had the worst stories of Cloud telling himself very disturbing things every night while ignoring her, disappearing for hours throughout the day, and just staring off at shadows while he was supposed to be watching her. Aerith had tried to talk to him, but he always shook his head and walked away each time, muttering to himself that it 'wasn't safe'.

But the final straw for Aerith had been when a tearful Marlene had run to her in the night, braving all the Heartless just to reach her. After wrapping the trembling girl up in a warm blanket, Aerith asked her what had happened.

"I thought there was a bird. A-a crow," she explained, sobbing freely. "I was getting ready for bed and saw a black feather on my pillow. I was worried that it might have gotten hurt and flown in through the window, so I asked Cloud to help me look."

"And then what?"

Marlene brushed away her tears as she said, "He came into my room. He was getting ready to leave so he had his s-sword. I showed him the feather and he went really, really quiet. And then… " Marlene hiccoughed and buried her face into the blanket.

"Marlene," Aerith had said firmly, touching the girl on her shoulder. "What did Cloud do?"

"H-he started screaming and stabbing my bed with his sword. I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen to me!"

Aerith's breath hitched as a horrible knot formed in her stomach. "What was he screaming?"

Marlene's tear-filled eyes watched Aerith brokenly as her lip trembled. "Leave me alone."

With tears in her own eyes, Aerith had promised the terrified girl that she could stay the night at her place and the two of them would come up with a solution in the morning. About an hour after Marlene had drank some warm milk and finally drifted off in Aerith's bed, she heard a knock at the door. Aerith knew it would be him before she even opened it.

"I can't stay," Cloud had said before Aerith had time to speak. She noticed that his eyes were red rimmed and his skin looked pallid. Even his hair was limp. "I'm sorry. I tried."

She crossed her arms, but felt her anger melting away the longer she stared at his face. "You frightened her, Cloud. You absolutely terrified her." Aerith held out her hand for him, frowning when he flinched away. "Come inside. We can talk about this."

"I'm sorry. I tried," repeated Cloud.

Aerith sighed, telling him kindly, "I know you did. Please, Cloud, I can't help you unless you can tell me what's going on."

"It was a warning. He was going to hurt her to get to me. I thought it was finally over but he won't stop. He's everywhere, haunting me and everyone I care about and showing me visions _over and over_ of what will happen."

"Who are you talking about? Who was going to hurt her? Cloud, please tell me what's going on!"

Cloud just stared right past her. "I won't let him hurt anyone else. I have to go to another world. He'll follow me wherever I go, but I won't have anyone he can use against me."

With a glance at her door, behind which slept Marlene, Aerith sighed. "Then let me come with you."

Cloud's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly. "You can't – he'll take you. It's too dangerous, especially for you." The night wind whipped through his hair and he shivered. He placed a taunt hand over his stomach and tore his gaze away from hers. "He told me he would. He took him first and I know he'll come for you next."

"Took him?" she repeated. It was innocuous phrase that could have meant anything, yet Aerith instantly understood the implication. A hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened as the image before her of Cloud's blond hair turned raven black while his blue-green eyes seemed to flash with unmatched bravado. It was a face that had belonged to a stranger for ten long, lonely years.

"I have to go," said Cloud, quickly turning around before she could say another word. The illusion faded and Cloud became his blond, exhausted self again. "I have to end this. Whatever it takes, I'll stop him. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I can't risk anyone else but me getting involved." Looking over his shoulder, he allowed her a small smile. "I'm strong enough to fight him this time. I promise I'll be back."

Cloud had received no response. She had heard those words before.

"Aerith! Look out!"

Snapping herself out of the reverie at Marlene's shout, Aerith blinked and glanced ahead. She had stopped dead in the middle of the road and had nearly gotten herself and Marlene run over by a wheelbarrow that was loaded down with bricks.

"Careful, Aerith," cautioned the load's driver, though with a teasing grin. He was puffing and sweating despite the overcast sky. "It's hard to see past all of these."

"Sorry," she said earnestly. "I was just thinking and lost myself."

The driver peered over the load and glanced down at Marlene. As he met her eyes, his smile fell instantly fell. Tearing his gaze away, he muttered, "I'm sure you have a lot on your mind."

In their small town, news spread quickly. Everyone knew that Cloud had vanished again and his name was now met with shakes of the head and mutterings. Marlene had been assured that he had gone to seek help, though everyone else thought he had just abandoned her when he couldn't handle the pressure. Cloud had insisted that she not say a word, and so Aerith had to painfully keep quiet.

With an incline of his head, the driver took off as the girls skirted around him. After a moment's awkward hesitation, Marlene said, "This looks like a good spot." She pointed ahead of them at a large rock that had yet to be cleared away.

Aerith allowed herself to be led to the rock and took a seat. Marlene plopped down beside her and passed over the ribbon. She hummed a simple tune quietly to herself as Aerith used her fingers to comb Marlene's hair into three sections. Aerith wished she could have smiled and enjoyed the simple moment as well as her young friend. But the memory of Cloud departing that night had haunted her ever since. Aerith's skills lay in healing magic, and it infuriated her that she could do nothing to help him.

As if she sensed her distress, Marlene softly asked, "Have you heard any news about him?"

"Cloud?"

"No, um. You know… _him._" She spun around and her braid gently slipped between Aerith's fingers. "My dad."

Aerith fought a sigh, unable to meet Marlene's eyes. Barret Wallace, Marlene's first adoptive father and Aerith's very good friend, had tried taking the first true Gummi Ship prototype back to Hollow Bastion nearly two years ago to see if there was anything left to even try to rebuild. He never returned.

"I'm sorry, Marlene. Nothing yet."

"You don't think he's made it back to Traverse Town yet? Has anyone said anything?"

"I don't think so."

"I hope he'll be back soon."

Closing her eyes to hide the tears brimming beneath them, Aerith smiled for Marlene's benefit. "Me too."

A piercing shriek shattered the moment. Both girls jumped in alarm as a shared look of alarm passed between them. Marlene's lips formed over the word 'Heartless'. Without another word, they leapt from their spot and sped towards the source.

It was easy to find where the scream had originated; in the square's centre stood cluster of people huddled in a circle, surrounding something on the ground. Aerith could make out a tall, brown-haired man in the centre of the commotion. The mob seemed to be granting him a wide berth. As the crowd shifted, Aerith could see that it was her friend Leon.

"What's going on!" shouted Aerith while her staff ignited in preparation. Her magic would allow her to heal even fatal injuries, but if the heart had already been claimed there was nothing would be nothing she could do.

"Leon!" she shouted, trying to get his attention while tearing her own path through the crowd.

"He just came out of the ground," a young woman muttered in disbelief. Aerith could see that her face had gone sheet white. "Like hell itself refused him…"

In frustration, Aerith whirled on her. "What's going on?"

The woman's eyes grew wide and panicked as she backed away. Suddenly Aerith felt a tug at the hem of her skirt that made her halt. A little girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes and whispered, "It's Riku. He's back."

Riku.

Heads turned in alarm at the sound of the name. It was instantly repeated from every mouth, spreading throughout the crowd like a crackling fire.

Riku.

Fear began to grip them as faces grew pale and hands itched for weapons. Parents moved their children out of the way, intending to use themselves as shields. Aerith felt Marlene's hand be tugged out of her grip as she was herded to safety.

Riku.

The disposition of the crowd had instantly turned foul as panic gripped them. Aerith knew there was little she could do to stem the tide as people who had been her friends and companions for so long quickly turned murderous.

"Kill him! Do it, Leon!"

"He'll bring back the witch!"

A pregnant woman on the other side of the mob cried, "Don't let him destroy everything we've worked for again. Kill him before he kills us."

"Kill him before he kills us!" another agreed savagely.

An old man, who Aerith knew to be kind and gentle, raised his hammer and rallied, "He's the one who murdered King Ansem and the apprentices!" He was met with calls of affirmation. "There has to be justice for that. We've waited ten years."

_"That's not what happened,"_ Aerith thought with a shake of her head. But she recognized the futility of trying to convince them otherwise; the damage to Riku's name had been done. It had been much easier to believe the lies when the truth had been so cruel.

Leon pointed his gunblade at the ground. Cries to end Riku's life had become a frantic chant. Aerith could see the hesitation in Leon's deep, blue eyes as he stared down at his target.

"Let me through!" she declared. When no one moved, she shoved them aside with her staff. These were good people, she knew, but they were frightened of losing everything and knew that Leon would do whatever it took to protect them. "Leon, I'm ordering you to stand down and not lay a hand on that boy until I've seen him."

"Aerith…" said Leon in a voice meant only for her. "It's not what you think."

Keeping his sword tightly trained on the ground, he stepped to the side to let her pass. Aerith felt her heart nearly stop when her eyes fell on the sight. Drowning in a pool of darkness was unmistakably Riku. His silver hair was in disarray and his pale skin was flecked with dirt and dried blood. Deep, ragged breaths shook his body and Aerith could practically feel his racing heart from where she was standing. His yellow shirt was torn open, revealing a vicious gash in his chest; his red-stained hands and nails appeared to be the obvious culprit. Riku's eyes were squeezed shut as his face contorted in a horrible agony.

Aerith could easily understand how the sight had frightened everyone, though all she saw was a terrified and badly injured child. She knelt at his side, ignoring Leon's warnings and, feeling the icy darkness' clutch underneath her knees, tried to shift his head to lie on her lap.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Riku snarled as blazing golden eyes snapped open. The darkness surrounding him flared and she could feel its grip tighten around his shuddering form. Without warning he winced as those eyes were forced closed, as if an unseen force was holding them shut. Riku whispered, "I won't let you…"

Despite the situation, Aerith managed to keep her voice calm as she assured him, "I won't touch you if you don't want me to. But you're very hurt and you need to let me help."

Suddenly the fear in Riku's face released, and Aerith hoped it meant he had heard. Her faith was instantly shattered as a deep chuckle resounded from his lips and Riku began to speak with a voice that made Aerith's blood run cold. "You will submit to me no matter how long it takes to break you."

"No…" Her breath caught painfully in her throat, Aerith's eyes widened as she shared a look with Leon. It was not Riku's presence alone that had unnerved him so – Ansem was about to revive in Hollow Bastion.

In desperation, Aerith glanced back at the crowd and allowed herself a small amount of relief. They had not reacted to Ansem's voice yet.

"No. I won't submit to you," he muttered weakly, now shaking terribly with pain and exhaustion. Suddenly Riku cut himself off with a cold laugh that was completely different than the first. He flinched, hissing and rolling over onto his side as he began to scratch at the fresh wound on his chest. Unable to keep herself from wincing at the sight, Aerith realized that in his delirious panic Riku had been trying to claw Ansem out of his heart. Hastily she reached down and pinned his hand against the ground to make him stop before he made it any deeper.

Aerith knew it was a mistake the instant those horrible yellow eyes shot open. A callous grin cut across Riku's face as he asked grimly, "What did I just tell you?"

Aerith fought a gasp. The voice was not Riku's, nor was it Ansem. _"There are three of them. He's fighting off both of them at once."_

Screans ripped a through the crowd. Aerith looked down to see a number of monsters crawling out of the dark pool surrounding Riku. They were small and blue, with thin crescent-shaped red eyes, long claws, and crinkled antenna. Though the ravenous look in their eyes and their frantic movements likened them to Heartless, Aerith was certain they were something else entirely. Heartless felt blank and cold, yet she could sense pain and anguish radiating off of them. However Aerith also remarked that, though she could not place a name to them, these creatures felt strangely familiar.

One lunged at her, but she had grabbed for her staff and she caught it under the stomach, throwing it back. She heard a bang as Leon shot it against the ground with his gunblade. Riku gave another unsettling laugh as three more joined the others. Ordering everyone to move back, she heard a rapid shuffling right before Leon began to swing his sword in fearsome arcs, cleaving each one in half as they vanished. "Aerith, move. Now!"

Heavily she returned his order with a glare and tried again to cradle his head in her lap. He winced at her touch like it burned him. Perhaps out of weakness, however, he did not fight back. Now that they were touching, she could verify that there were three distinct personalities in his heart, each savagely fighting for dominance.

One was clearly Riku himself and the other Ansem. The third was the most aggressive despite being weakest of the three, though she could sense it seemed to be restrained by something. Riku's eyes opened again and she was relieved to see they had returned to their normal aqua colour.

"Shh, it's alright," she soothed him, stroking his silver hair. He was trembling so fiercely that she was unsure if he could even feel her hands. Suddenly he glanced up at her with wide eyes that seemed to be pleading for help. Reassuring him over the cries of the crowd, she said, "No one is going to hurt you. You're safe now. But you need to fight them off."

"F-fight?" he whispered like it was a new word. His eyes squeezed shut and he gave a weak scream in protest. "I won't submit to you…"

_"He can't fight them like this – he can barely hear me_," she told herself as Riku's breathing became even more agitated with every passing second. Her eyes strayed to the gash on his chest. His head and neck too were marred with barely healed lesions. An idea struck her and, holding her other hand over his body, began to cast healing spells over his many wounds. Riku flinched and whimpered, trying to pull away. She almost stopped but quickly realized it had nothing to do with her.

The process was slow, but the more his wounds were mended the less frequent their attacks seemed to be. His breathing slowed considerably and the tremors had nearly subsided. Soon all of his injuries had been sealed save for a persistent x-shaped scar on his lower jaw that could not be banished. Riku opened his eyes once again and Aerith knew she had little time left until his heart would no longer be able to hold them off.

Riku had less than a minute, she knew, to regain control. Otherwise Ansem and his Heartless army would be revived in the middle of their main square.

"I can heal your wounds, but there is darkness inside you that I cannot reach. You need to fight them before they take over or many innocent people will be hurt."

"Hurt?" he asked uneasily and Aerith wondered how much he actually understood.

"Yes, hurt. But you can stop that from happening. I know you can."

"You can do it, Riku!" a tiny voice added from Aerith's other side.

Her heart skipped a beat. "Marlene! Get back – it's too dangerous!"

Ignoring her, Marlene shoved her way past the crowd and crouched down beside Riku. Marlene took Riku's bloody hand into hers and offered him a comforting smile. "It's going to be okay. I know you can fight them."

Despite herself, Aerith had to smile. Marlene had not yet been born when Hollow Bastion had fallen, yet had in the past few months grown up hearing the rumours surrounding Riku's name since he had first appeared alongside Maleficent in Traverse Town. She knew nothing about Ansem and his apprentices and had repeatedly been told that Riku was the cause of all her misfortune. And yet she too only saw a boy who desperately needed someone to believe in him.

Another brutal attack seized him, causing Riku's body to go taunt as he tried to fight back. Marlene winced as his hold tightened but she refused to pull away. Aerith's heart pounded as she tried to think of a way to buy him more time.

Suddenly Marlene's eyes lit up. She reached to the base of her braid and began to unwind it the way Aerith had done earlier. Shaking her hair lose, Marlene removed the red ribbon Aerith had gave her and threaded it between Riku's fingers. "Take this," she told him gently. "It's a good luck charm to keep you safe from them."

To Aerith's amazement, Riku seemed to register her words far more than anything else he had heard. With a small nod he reached into the back pocket of his jeans, removing a small, thin object. As he brought it towards himself, Aerith could see that it was a card. On one side was a large, blue symbol that resembled a heart while the other had a picture of a tropical island.

Scarcely able to breathe, Aerith watched his hand, still holding the ribbon, closed around the card and held it over his heart. His pained expression became almost serene. "I won't submit to you… either of you," he said with surprising calmness and clarity, drawing in a deep breath. "And I won't let you hurt them."

Aerith watched in a strange sort of spellbound awe as Riku's card began to brightly shimmer, draping the three of them in a comforting embrace of light. Marlene gasped, though her shock immediately turned to joy as the light danced around them. Aerith could see sparks reflected against Riku's eyes like stars. With her hand resting upon his forehead, Aerith could sense that it was not the card that was slowly forcing his tormenters to recede; rather it was his own heart using the card as a key to separate himself from them and lock them deeply within his own heart. She had never seen magic like that before.

Slowly the darkness surrounding him vanished, like fire being smothered. She could sense Ansem's heart, intertwined with the other, becoming fainter until their presences were little more than a whisper. The threat banished, the light abruptly died out as Riku collapsed against Aerith's lap in exhaustion.

"Well done," she told him proudly while gently running her fingers through his hair to soothe him. Her heart was racing with exhilaration, though she too felt drained from the ordeal. "You were very brave. Few could have done that."

"Helped?" Riku questioned softly through dry lips. He rolled over onto his side with his cheek pressed against her skirt.

Beaming warmly as Marlene giggled, Aerith confessed, "We helped a little, but you fought them yourself. I can't imagine the pain you must have been going through. But you did it. You pushed them back."

_"For now,"_ she reminded herself dolefully.

"I did… before," admitted Riku and Aerith almost laughed at how smug he looked. Suddenly he tensed and glanced around frantically, even trying to push himself upright. Marlene leaned back slightly to provide him space, her expression becoming concerned as he struggled.

"Nah...mine… eh?" he whispered softly.

Knowing he was past the point of delirium, Aerith smiled and continued to stroke his hair. "That's right. Nah-mine-eh."

"Nah-mine-eh," he repeated warmly with an almost childlike bliss. Aerith could make out a small smile on his face as he said, "Thank you."

With that, Aerith felt his tense body finally relax, keeping that gentle smile preserved on his lips, as he fell deeply asleep against her lap. Triumphantly she locked eyes with Marlene.

"I think Riku should keep the ribbon for luck, don't you?" said Marlene with a wide grin. "I think it helped."

"That was very clever, Marlene," she congratulated proudly. "How did you ever think of that?"

She shrugged. "I just thought he needed a little hope so that he'd know he wasn't fighting all alone."

"Aerith," Leon said suddenly, crouching down beside them. "It's over?"

She gave a slight jump at the sound of his voice, having blocked out the world save for herself, Marlene, and Riku for so long. "Yes. Riku fought him off." She neglected to mention the other soul, preferring to tell him in private.

Only appearing slightly shaken by what had happened, Leon sternly declared as much to her as to the crowd, "We'll lock him up in the dungeon and interrogate him when he wakes up."

Aerith's eyes narrowed as she addressed him crossly, "Absolutely not. We're taking him back to headquarters with us where he'll be safe and looked after."

The dungeons were in the remains of the old castle; they were dark, cold, and teeming with Heartless. Not to mention the fact that she could not discount a sudden vigilante attack from some of the more restless citizens.

Not unkindly Leon told her, "We can't afford that sort of risk. He's a danger to himself and everyone here. It's either that or he has to go." His words were met with applause from the crowd.

"Then you'll have to lock me up with him because I will not leave his side until he's better." Sternly she faced the crowd. "This is a child who came here for help like so many of us. He is hurt, he is scared, and he deserves to be treated like a human being."

"You saw what he is!" a curt voice shouted to approval from the crowd. "That's not a child – he's a monster. He's the cause of all this!"

"What's a monster?" The speaker, a tall man with short blond hair, rudely shoved people aside to reach them. Aerith recognized Cid's gruff voice instantly.

Cid shook his head, proclaiming, "I leave for fifteen minutes and you've already got a mob going." His gaze fell on Riku, now sleeping peacefully against Aerith's lap. Cid pursed his lips and reached into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "Well, shit."

"Cid, he appeared from a dark portal. And he wasn't _alone_." Leon let his final word hang in the air knowing that Cid would catch the implication.

Looking completely unfazed beyond a slight raise of his eyebrows, Cid nodded. "Huh. Well I know how this is going to go – you both know who'll win this one," he said while gesturing between Aerith and Leon. He crouched down beside her and said, "Give him to me. I'll carry him back to headquarters. We can use Merlin's manacles to restrain him for the time being."

Without another word, despite the protests from the crowd, Aerith assisted Cid in lifting Riku into his arms. After giving her a quick nod, Cid took off with him while Aerith and Leon watched each other with silent looks of warning.

"You understand what you're putting at risk," Leon said finally.

She glanced around at the mob, which was beginning to disperse. The looks of dread were all too evident on their faces. They had no idea that Ansem, their beloved king, was the one possessing Riku and who had nearly caused their city to fall to ruin once again. They also had no idea that Riku, the very one they were so set to vilify, had just saved them all. Leon gave a heavy sigh and slung his gunblade across his back as he took Marlene by the hand. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Aerith held her head aloft and declared, "And I hope you understand what you almost did." Out of the corner of her eye she caught Marlene nod in agreement.

Marlene almost said something, but was cut off by the sound of a grunt followed by a loud clank and a particularly nasty swear. "Hey if I get attacked while running this favour for you, you'll really regret it," Cid advised while stepping around several Heartless that had just spawned at his feet. "So get over here before I have to drop his ass."

With a shake of his head, Leon dragged Marlene away. Aerith almost ran to Cid's side, but hesitated as something caught her eye on the ground. It was Riku's card lying forgotten in the dirt; it must have been jostled loose when they had lifted him. Bending down to grab it, knowing that Riku would surely be devastated if it was lost, Aerith let her confident expression fall with a soft sigh.

_"Please, Riku,"_ Aerith desperately prayed as her hands closed around the card's edges. _"Please prove to them I'm right in giving you this chance. Because if not, I'm afraid things are about to get far worse than we could ever begin to imagine."_

* * *

_Notes for Rep's Memory:_

I love Marluxia - he's one of my favourite Org members, so this part was a lot of fun for me. This part is meant to give a quick look into Rep's psyche and I hope it helps in explaining some of his thoughts and actions. However, first, I just want to address the fact that this section makes Vexen's role in writing these memories more pronounced. The memory is essentially showing Rep's first encounter with the Organization, so Marluxia goes all out in demonstrating his power. The point of that was to basically show him that disobeying them is a bad idea and, as the memory shows, it was all about respect. Next, Rep is told that Namine is still alive and instantly has a melt-down and pledges his completely submission to the Organization.

But the main thing I want to address here is Rep's personality. In the game, the Riku Replica basically tells Sora that he 'forgot all about those losers on the islands', which is kind of a nasty thing to say. But here the Organization has crafted a scenario in which Rep's life literally had no purpose without Namine. Worse, once she disappeared, no one would believe him when he claimed she had ever existed. This made Riku feel lost, alone, and angry. So he put away the memories so that it wouldn't hurt any more. However, this led to him continually feeling angry for years without any clear reason why. When he learns that she is alive, he is relieved, but also ashamed.

Finally, he explains to Marluxia that he thought he was above island life. However, he very specifically draws a line from Young Master Xehanort. Rep's personality prior to his heart being smashed is a combination of Riku and Xehanort in a bad way. That's what he's trying to overcome.

_Notes on Aerith's section:_

I also love Aerith. You might be wondering why there is such a long and kind of random section about Cloud in the middle there. Here is what happened:

1) Decide to rewrite chapter, switching focus from Rep to Aerith to heighten the tension

2) Try to figure out a way to introduce her. Come up with a girl named 'Sally' who gives Aerith her ribbon back.

3) Scrap Sally because Marlene is totes cannon. Duh.

4) Realize Barrett would never let Marlene run around in danger. Realize you have no idea if Marlene calls Barrett 'Dad'. Give Marlene foster parents.

5) Realize that you actually FORGOT YOUR FAVOURITE FINAL FANTASY CHARACTER IN THE ORIGINAL DRAFTS OF THE NEXT 7 CHAPTERS. But it's okay, because I'm re-doing them all anyway, so I'll just add him in...

6) NOPE! Come up with a really complicated story for later.

And done :D :D

Oh, and if you're having fun - please leave a review!


	8. Chained to the Past

Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!

I just quickly want to note that as of the last chapter, I broke the 50k word count milestone... in 7 chapters (including the prologue) and, as of this chapter, according to my computer, I broke 100 pages. So if you have made it this far, you rock! I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews and messages and constant support for this project. You're all amazing!

Oh, and, uh this chapter has a lot of talking. Like a lot. Sorry about that. Also, if anyone is senative to swearing, I'm very sorry, but it didn't feel right censoring Cid. most chapters will be fairly (clean), but let's just say that this one may possibly earn the T rating, if the story hasn't already.

* * *

**7**

Chained to the Past

_Hollow Bastion_

Rep was convinced that he was becoming far too accustomed to waking up in strange places with only the vaguest of recollections to explain how he got there. Though, he had to admit, in comparison with finding himself bound helplessly to Vexen's operating table and later unconscious multiple times against the hard floors of Castle Oblivion, awakening to a warm bed was much nicer.

The first thing that Rep noticed even before he opened his eyes were the odours surrounding him; it was a curious combination of fresh flowers and smoke that made his nose itch. The floral scent seemed to be emanating from the pale pink comforter that was enveloping him completely, making it impossible to see anything beyond it. The source of the smoke, however, was slightly more discomforting as Rep could tell without looking that his lightweight yellow shirt had been removed at some point and was replaced by an oversized, scratchy sweater.

Despite all of his confusion, Rep felt better than he could ever remember. The pain from his wounds had receded to little more than a dull throb and his nap, however long it had been, left him feeling refreshed. Rep would have been perfectly content to simply snuggle back down into the bed's warmth and fall asleep once again had it not been for the presence of four unfamiliar scents apprehensively surrounding him.

As he grew increasingly alert, Rep found that his relief was rapidly being replaced by a cold dread. _"They probably aren't going to kill me – they wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if they were. They must not know I'm a replica then, either." _He drew the blankets even more tightly around him and sighed as quietly as he could manage. _"If they did, I'd probably be in a cell or something."_

Rep flinched as he heard the creak of a chair scrapping across the floor. He tensed and held his breath as footsteps approached him, releasing it only once they passed. His plan was to pretend to be asleep for as long as possible to give himself time to become more aware of his surroundings.

_"I remember opening up the portal and going through, but nothing after that. I think I remember being in pain. A lot of pain. But that's not so weird, not for me at least. And it wouldn't be the first time I suddenly I passed out like that. And I remember another memory. Marluxia this time. When he took me to Castle Oblivion with him. But that sound… it broke at the end. Just like last time. It happened again."_

Suddenly Rep was no longer warm and safe in the bed, but on Castle Oblivion's floor. Axel was standing above him, watching as he fought against the pain that was shredding his body apart moments before darkness ripped him away into another broken memory. Rep shuddered at the recollection. For a moment Rep wondered if Vanitas had anything to do with it, though he knew it was impossible. He felt Vanitas burn and die. Rep knew Vanitas could never have survived it. Even so, he pondered, Vanitas' voice felt disturbingly fresh in his mind.

However, there was another voice ringing in his ears that was also far too familiar.

Rustling the blankets as little as possible, Rep moved his hand to trace along the scar Riku had given him. Unlike the others, which had been healed at some point, this one had persisted. He knew it had not been Riku's fault – nothing could have chased the memory of his possessor's voice – but he felt absolutely disgusted that Riku's hand had been the one to permanently mutilate him.

_"At least I'm not dead,"_ he consoled himself to little effect. The man who had saved him, the one who had controlled Riku's body in that moment, had only done so because he claimed to need him for something. _"A spare, he called me."_ With his hold over Riku revealed, Rep did not have to guess at what he was supposed to be a proxy for. With nothing else to look at, he glared fiercely at the pillow.

Eventually his glare softened and fell with a sigh. Rep's thoughts were all jumbled and confused, and he was finding it impossible to focus. However, there was a single memory that continuously crept to the forefront of his mind despite his best attempts to ignore it.

_"This bed, this warmth, everything. This feels just like that time… after I almost drowned. Except when I open my eyes, I know she won't be there."_ Rep squeezed his eyes shut, hating himself for being like this. _"But I swear… I swear I heard her voice again after I went through the portal. She chased the pain away."_

Abruptly Rep caught one of the scents drawing closer. He braced himself as the mattress dipped and a hand was laid comfortingly on his shoulder. Another hand was placed on top of the blanket in such a way that it was placing pressure on his wrists and was pinning them to the mattress. Rep felt his breath hitch and his heart race at the action; he had failed to notice it before, but his wrists felt strangely stiff. He tried to yank himself free, but the grip only tightened.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you," a woman's voice told him kindly. She adjusted the blankets around his head so that Rep could see her face. She was older than he was, perhaps in her twenties, and had long, auburn hair that flowed in a wave to her mid-back. Most strikingly, however, were her gentle green eyes that were surveying his with interest. As he stared up at her smiling face, Rep felt his own lips curve to match. There was something about her that reminded him of Naminé. "I'm just glad that you've finally decided to wake up. You've been asleep for almost eight hours."

"Sorry," was the first response that came to mind.

"You don't have to apologise! You went through a lot."

_"I did?"_

Feeling more confused than ever, Rep felt as though there were a thousand questions racing through his mind, but knew he had to start at the beginning, lest they all burst out at once. "Do you… do you know where I am?"

He was answered with a soft laugh. "Why don't you take a look around and see for yourself."

Rep propped himself up as best as he could, despite the girl holding down his hands, and examined his surroundings. He was in a large, circular, stone hut that was absolutely covered, nearly floor to wall, in blueprints and building plans. Upon closer examination, he saw that they were designing a town. Nothing looked at all familiar to him, making Rep even more curious about the world he had landed in. There was a table with chairs in the room's centre that had several dirty dishes on it and some old clothes and trunks stacked in the corner. The room was messy, yet had a sense of order to it. However, the thing that excited Rep the most were the piles of books around his bed and along the walls. Rep wondered if he was in a sort of makeshift library and suddenly felt a very strong urge to pick up one of the books and begin leafing through it.

"This is the headquarters of the Restoration Committee. I'm one of the founding members, along with my friends here," she explained with a wide grin. "My name is Aerith. It's a pleasure to finally be properly introduced."

Rep beamed with the realization that he was about to share his name for the first time. "My name's R-"

"We know who you are," he was cut off coldly.

Rep twisted his head to see a brown haired man with a brutal looking scar that stretched across the bridge of his nose observing him with tight eyes. He was seated on a chair in a position that indicated that he was trying to appear relaxed and nonthreatening, but Rep could clearly see how all of his weight was shifted forward, like he was preparing to pounce. Rep's eyes trailed downwards to where his hand was clenched tightly around the handle of a sword.

Reflexively Rep sank back under the blanket until his mouth and nose were covered and only his eyes were visible. _"How does he know who I am? Did I say something while I was asleep like I did with Axel? Did I tell them I'm a replica?" _

He surveyed the man carefully, noting how he was no longer even sitting on the chair, having balanced his weight forward so much that he was hovering off of it in a slight crouch. Rep tucked his chin out from under the blanket to return the iron glare he was receiving.

_"And what's his problem? Even if he knows I'm a replica, I'm still half-asleep in a pink bed that smells like daisies… I think it's obvious who looks more threatening here."_

Rep heard a sigh to the man's left as a lean girl with short, dark hair stepped into view. "Leon, just calm down alright. Hi," she said, giving Rep a friendly wave. Placing her hands firmly on her lips and flashing him a wide grin, she proclaimed, "Sorry about him – he can be a huge jerk sometimes. Anyway, my name is Yuffie, but you can call me 'The Great Ninja Yuffie', if you really want."

"Yuffie…" murmured Aerith under her breath, though Rep could make out a small smile working its way across her face.

"That's Leon," Yuffie continued, pointing at the scowling man with the scar. "And over there is Cid."

Rep followed her finger towards a man with close-cropped blond hair in a white t-shirt. He was seated in front of what appeared to be a large electronic screen. There were a lot of numbers and algorithms running across a gridded pattern and Rep wondered what it meant. There was a swish of a match as Cid lit a cigarette and stuck it between his teeth. Smoke curled towards the ceiling, matching the smell that reeked Rep's new shirt.

Groaning, Aerith said, "Cid, we have a guest. If you must have something in your mouth then use a toothpick, or something, but otherwise take it outside."

Cid merely sucked in a long puff and held out the case of cigarettes in Rep's direction. He almost laughed at the look on Aerith's face as she swatted it away. He suspected that this was a common occurrence.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Cid said proudly with a gesture towards the machine. "Built it myself. It's the best computer we have, though I'm always making upgrades when I can."

"It's big," commented Rep, somewhat in awe. In the back of his mind, he wondered if Cid might let him try it. Rep had no idea what it did, but was drawn in by the ease at which Cid was making the machine calculate and flash.

Grunting, Cid replied, "That it is. It was a bitch to lug all the way here, let me tell ya. But I think that bigger is always the way to go."

"So what are you doing on it?"

Cid pressed a button as an image of a Heartless being disintegrated came up on the screen. "It's called 'Claymore'. It's a defense mechanism for the town. Still in the early stages, but it should be operational within a few months. It's pretty fuckin' amazing."

Yuffie smirked and concealed a laugh. "So back to the introductions before Cid tries to explain how it works. Now you know me, Leon, and Cid. You already met Aerith." She turned back to Rep and concluded with a wide grin, "and you're Riku!"

"What!" he argued without thinking. "No, wait I'm…"

_"They don't know I'm a replica, so that's good. I'm safe for now. But they think I'm Riku."_ Rep considered carefully what that could mean for him. _"I'd rather not be Riku. Especially not after I've seen what he's really like. But at least this way they'll never find out what I really am and I'll have a better chance of staying alive until I can figure out what's going on."_

"Yeah, I'm Riku," Rep said, sounding more crushed than he would have liked as his head slumped back onto the pillows. He was grateful that, at least in his memories, he had been using Riku's name for long enough that it would be an easy thing to remember.

However instead of relaxing, Rep felt the tension in the room rise even higher as if they were desperately hoping he would say something else. After a very long and incredibly uncomfortable silence, Rep asked the second most important question on his mind. "So how exactly did I get here?"

"I dragged your unconscious ass back here," Cid told him with an air of complete nonchalance.

"Uh, thanks?"

Another long and uncomfortable silence, Aerith finally broke it by asking if Rep needed anything.

"Some water would be great," he quickly replied, his throat feeling parched and rough just thinking about it.

"Be right back," said Aerith. She rose from the bed, releasing his wrists in the process, and headed towards the door.

As he glanced around, Rep suddenly realized that there was no sink in the hut. Not wanting to cause any trouble, he threw the blanket off and tried to stand, offering, "Just tell me where it is any I'll get it myself."

"Don't!" Leon shouted, though Rep hardly heard as something silver flashed in front of his eyes and he was yanked back towards the bed. At first he furiously thought Leon must have grabbed him and had been about to fight back when he noticed Leon standing with the others, each sharing the same startled expression. However, they weren't even meeting his eyes.

They were looking at his hands.

The stiffness in his wrists and the reason Aerith had been trying to conceal them was instantly explained as Rep stared in shock at the silver manacles that had been tightly clamped around his wrists. They were light, thin, and not particularly uncomfortable, not unlike wristbands, but they felt cold and foreign. A chain protruded from a loop on each cuff, each meeting the other seemed to be suspended in midair just above his bed. He gave it a testing yank, but the chain was immovable. Wordlessly Rep stood and closed his hand around the spot where the chain was hovering. Again it was impossible to move. The slack it created was not enough for him to get very far and he felt a panic bubbling inside of him as he caught the reflection of his eyes glinting off the nearly white, smooth metal.

"What's this?" His voice nearly came out as a scream.

Leon answered quickly. "In short, they're anti-magic manacles."

_"Wonderful." _

Rep tugged on the slack as far as it would go. To his horror, he was only able to take one full step away from the bed. Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie backed away. Even Cid halted whatever he was doing to watch as Rep began to jerk his hands back to see if he could pull out of them. They seemed to be constricting him even tighter.

"Don't try to summon your weapon," Leon advised him sternly.

Rep rolled his eyes and resumed struggling to loosen them. He had been thinking of calling on Soul Eater and cutting the chain in half. "Why? What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing," he answered, though Rep caught the slight hesitation. "Those manacles were made to restrict all forms of magic and were modified to contain something much more powerful than you."

Cid coughed and tapped the ashes of his cigarette into a white mug on the desk. "Basically what he's trying to say is that it will probably burn your hands off before the sword even has a chance to materialize."

Rep stopped dead as his arms unconsciously slackened. "Seriously?"

"You're welcome to try find out," said Cid.

"Stop it – both of you! You're scaring him," Aerith ordered.

Rep almost laughed. He felt completely out of control. They had to be joking. They were going to take them off at any moment. This could not be happening again so soon. In a strained voice, he turned to Aerith and demanded, "I won't actually burn my hands off if I try to summon my sword, right?"

With absolutely no humour in her eyes she answered, "You probably will."

_"Oh."_

His chest tightened, like he had forgotten how to breathe. Rep glanced around the room and shook the chain. "So, can I take them off now?"

There was an air of awkward apprehension hanging in the air like a fog until Yuffie hesitantly replied. "No. The wearer can't remove them."

In the calmest voice he could manage, Rep articulated, "Can one of you take them off, then?" Slowly they shook their heads in unison, almost like it was rehearsed. With a dangerous edge to his voice, Rep asked, "Are you going to tell me why not?"

"We don't have to answer to you," Leon said with a hard edge. "For now, this is what you deserve."

_"I des-?"_

That was all that he needed to hear. With a scream of frustration he began to vigorously pull back on the chain, causing the metal to scrape against his skin and draw blood. Even Vanitas had allowed his heart to pull against him, but these people – people that he had just met – had utterly taken away his ability to fight back. "Sorry – I didn't realize that just dropping into your world was a crime!"

"Riku, please calm down," Aerith pleaded to deaf ears. "We're not trying to hurt you!"

"I don't even know where I am or how I got here – I wasn't even trying to come here! I just wanted to get away!" His voice rose to a hysterical pitch. His vision turned hazy, he had completely shut out all sounds other than the clinking of his chain, and could think of nothing beyond escaping alive.

Leon approached him and Rep could see the glint of his sword's edge out of the corner of his eye. "Stop fighting it – you're going to hurt yourself. This is the best thing for you."

"No!" Rep screamed hoarsely as he viciously strained against his bindings. "I won't be a slave again!"

For only a second his wrath sparked a dark flare in his fist. That single second was enough to send violent waves of burning torturous pain spasming throughout his body, sending him to his knees. He pitched forward and collapsed against the bedframe. Bringing his hands close to his body, Rep could make out thin red lines along the edges of where the cuffs met his skin. He could tell by the pain and the smell that the damage was much worse underneath.

_"I was so close." _ Rep brought his entrapped hands to the soft quilt and pressed his forehead against them. The metal felt icy cold against his skin. _"I was so close to being free. But even when I'm Riku I can't escape what I am."_

"We're not trying to _enslave _you, Riku," said Leon, sounding exhausted. "Why would you ever think something like that?"

In response Rep shook the chain so that they swished through the air.

"I'm sorry we had to do this to you." Aerith crouched down beside him and tentatively placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. If he had the energy, he would have thrown her off. "I knew you wouldn't be happy about having them put on while you were sleeping. This is my fault. I was supposed to explain, but you just seemed so comfortable with us that I forgot we had even put them on."

"So why did you?"

"We're just trying to protect you and everyone else in our world."

"From what?" growled Rep. "Protect everyone from me? I haven't even done anything wrong!"

"You're joking, right?"

Rep was confident that Leon would have another nasty facial scar if the slack had allowed him to reach just a little further. "Do I look like I'm in the mood for this?! Just tell me what's going on!"

"You seriously don't remember how you arrived in this world?"

Rep gave a hollow laugh. It was true that he could not recall anything after stepping into the portal, but he could scarcely imagine he had done any damage while unconscious. "Enlighten me. Like I said, I have no idea where I am, so let's start with that."

"Hollow Bastion," said Yuffie cheerfully, though in a tone that was higher than usual. "You know big castle, lotsa Heartless… Maleficent? That ringing any bells? And did you forget Ans -"

"Yuffie!" Aerith hissed while shaking her head quickly. She rose from the ground and went back to stand with the others. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught them all sharing loaded glances with each other in a heated, wordless argument. Unable to watch any longer, Rep turned away.

_"Right. Riku and Maleficent." _Rep recalled in his memories how Riku had come to trust the sorceress as she slowly poisoned his heart against Sora. In the time he had been under her influence, Riku had kidnapped several princesses, unleashed the Heartless on many worlds, and nearly saw to the destruction of Hollow Bastion after trying to kill Sora with his own Keyblade. Rep understood very quickly why there would be a lingering animosity towards anyone who bore Riku's face.

_"But he didn't succeed… Riku lost to Sora when he called his Keyblade back. Then he ran deeper into the castle. And that's where Marluxia found him and took him to Castle Oblivion because Naminé…"_

Slowly Rep sat up straight as the significance of those words weighed down on him. _"No he didn't. That doesn't make any sense – Naminé was never in Riku's past, so there is no reason why he'd go after her when he still had a grudge against Sora. He'd stay there and fight. But the next thing I remember is waking up on Vexen's table with her there beside me. Something is missing. The Organization didn't just make stuff up – they took it out too… Some of my memories are missing." _

Rep turned around to see four pairs of eyes intently trained on his, waiting for a response. _"And I think it has to do with this." _Rep closed his eyes._ "Riku… what exactly did you do?"_

Cid cleared his throat. "You really don't remember? You have no idea what happened earlier today?"

Rep shook his head, now desperately wishing that he did. At least he would have some answers then. "I just remember going into a portal and then waking up here." Rep sat down on the bed and let his chained wrists fall heavily across his lap. Aware of how intently he was being watched, Rep knew he might never get a chance to make his appeal like this again. "Look, I'm not trying to cause any trouble. I'm sorry I came to your world – it was an accident. It was my first time trying to use a portal. I was just trying to escape someone."

"Who were you trying to get away from?" questioned Yuffie. Rep could tell from the others' expressions that they were thinking along the same lines.

Rubbing his hands over the manacles absently, Rep caught himself and sighed. There was no way to explain that without giving himself away. The only choice he had was to redirect it. "That's what I'm trying to get at. I know I did _something_ wrong and I'm sorry for that, but you have to let me go. There are… there are a lot of people who want me gone. I'm completely defenseless like this. When they come for me, I won't stand a chance against them…"

Aerith returned to his side and, before Rep could argue, wrapped her arms around his shoulders and tucked his head against her shoulder. "Riku, I know you're scared and I wish – I wish with all my heart - I could explain, but this is the best thing for you right now." Rep started to shake his head and pull back, but Aerith tightened her hold on him. "If anyone wants to hurt you, they'll have to go through me first." Without even looking at Leon and the others to see their reactions, she added, "They'll have to go through all of us. I promise, Riku, I _promise_ _you_, that you will be safe here."

"I'm trying to do what you want," he protested with a tight throat. Rep felt a hundred years older in the last ten minutes. The happiness he had experienced at the crossroads just hours ago felt like a hazy dream as he was being jolted awake into reality. "You'll never have to see me again. I'm trying to fix this."

"I know it's hard," she said. "But I need you to trust me."

_"You chained me up so I won't escape, you made sure I can't fight back, and you won't even tell me what's going on. How am I supposed to trust you?"_ Aerith had seemed so kind when he first awoke and he desperately wanted to believe her, but he felt certain that staying here was no different than surrendering himself to Axel or Riku.

"Riku, do you remember ever being in Hollow Bastion before?" inquired Aerith cautiously. "Do you remember anything about that?"

Rep thought carefully about his answer. "I know I've been here before with Maleficent, but I don't remember much after that. My memories are breaking down," he declared to stunned faces and wide eyes. "They're a mess and I never really know if I'm remembering what really happened or something just made up. I know I did something wrong, but I really have no idea what's going on. If you would just _tell me_, then maybe I could help."

"Like amnesia?" Yuffie wanted to know.

"Yeah. Amnesia," declared Rep, running a hand through his hair. The chain clinked and rubbed along his cheek. He knew she was wrong, but it was simplest to agree. "I don't know how to make it stop."

"Riku, I'm very sorry," said Aerith with a grave and intense voice, though Rep believed she was trying to sound comforting. "But I can't tell you everything. I know you must have a lot of questions, but you have to understand that we're only trying to do what's best for you."

"But _why_?" Rep urged.

Aerith's gaze passed over him as her eyes met with Leon's. Their silent conversation was silenced with a nod. "Riku, this morning you appeared in the centre of our main square from a dark portal. You…" she sighed heavily and ran a hand through her thick, auburn hair. "Something went wrong. You were badly injured in the process of coming through to the other side. You were scared and hurt, and you weren't able to control your own darkness…"

Rep felt his heart stop. He remembered. Darkness. Screaming. Pain. So much pain. Someone holding him down. Unable to escape as the darkness tried to drown him.

His blood ran cold as he stared at each member of the Restoration Committee in turn, hoping that one of them would disprove her claim, offering _anything_ to the contrary. They all avoided his gaze. Dreading what he might here, Rep shuttered shakily, "I didn't… I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

"No – no, everyone is fine," Aerith quickly admitted. Rep hung his head and sighed heavily, feeling his breathing start again. "A number of Heartless were summoned to protect you, but you managed to get them under control. You were very brave."

Stepping forward, Cid explained, "That's why we put the manacles on you – to prevent you from using that darkness again. You can't control it, so we're stopping you from destroy the town in a wave of Heartless while ensuring that you don't self-combust."

Rep buried his face in his hands. He was comforted to know that his weakness had not caused any lasting repercussions, but understood the severity of what he had nearly done. "_Riku was right, then – a fake heart wasn't enough."_ Rep corrected himself darkly,_ "Will never be enough. Nothing has changed."_

"You really don't remember anything?" he was asked again. Rep's thoughts were too penetrated by his own concerns to be sure who it was.

"Nothing. I wish I did. More than almost anything I wish that this wasn't happening, but I don't know how to stop it."

_"Because it means that I'm breaking along with them."_

Slowly their shock turned to pity. To his surprise, he saw Leon nod in Aerith's direction. She released Rep and gave him a tentative smile. "Riku, I would be honoured if you would let me show you around town."

Stunned by the sudden offer, Rep found himself unable to react in either direction before Yuffie flung herself at Rep's other side, causing the mattress to bounce. "That sounds fun! Come on, Riku! What if I come along too? Just you, me, and Aerith on an once-in-a-lifetime guided tour of everything that's changed since we kicked your old boss out."

"Yuffie…" Leon said in a low, warning voice.

Waving him off with a chuckle, Yuffie glanced out the window and smiled. "You all need to lighten up. If you actually want him to feel welcome, you're going to have to act like it. And speaking of lightening up, or darkening up, I guess, it'll be sundown in a few hours. So we should get moving if we want Riku to have a decent tour." When Rep failed to respond, Yuffie groaned and nudged him teasingly with her elbow. "Come on, Riku, it'll be like a party! You've got to at least be a little curious."

Rep's eyes were straying towards the blueprints and he even caught himself glancing out the window, prompting a wide grin from Yuffie and a relieved sigh from Aerith. But Rep could not bring himself to be led blindly through the streets with them clutching his shackles. His gaze tore from the window and settled on the chain, as if he could make burn away it merely by staring.

A moment later he heard Aerith whisper, "Oh I see."

Rep watched in amazement as she reached up and plucked the floating end of the chain out of the air. He prepared himself to suddenly be thrust onto his feet and led out against his will, but instead froze as Aerith crouched down to his level and held the chain out in front of him. The chain swiftly ignited and vanished in a flash of light.

Calmly she asked, "Does that help?"

Running his hands along the space on the manacles where the chain had been connected, Rep had to admit that it did. He had full motion in his arms once again and would be able to walk freely without the humiliation of being leashed. "Thanks," he told her stiffly.

A look of relief passed over Aerith's face, though it abruptly fell as she caught the redness on his skin around the cuffs. "Oh, I didn't realize it was that bad. Hold on."

She dove under the bed and began rummaging around, forcing both Yuffie and Rep to awkwardly kick their legs to the side to permit her space. He could hear the clink of bottles and books shuffling. Finally she remerged with a bottle containing a green liquid and a dusty rag. Warily Rep eyed the bottle as she uncorked it and tipped it upside-down, placing the rag flush against the opening. Once Aerith had decided that enough of the liquid had soaked into it, she righted the bottle and set it on the floor.

"Here. Give them to me," she told him cheerily while holding out the rag. When Rep tensed and pulled back at the command, Aerith gave him a small smile and changed her approach. "Riku, may I please see your hands?"

Reluctantly he held them out to her as she began to dab that the wounds. For a moment his skin began to burn and Rep had to grit his teeth to keep from giving a reaction, but just as quickly it turned pleasantly cool. In a rapid flash of green light, his wounds very instantly healed. Rep was grateful that the pain was gone though was, as Yuffie has put it, far from feeling welcome. Nonetheless, he thanked Aerith again, perhaps with slightly less hostility.

"Aerith, I'm not sure about this," cautioned Leon with a gesture towards where the chain used to be. "You don't know how the others will react."

Groaning again, Yuffie reached down over the manacles and hauled Rep onto his feet. "You see – that right there – that's why Leon's not invited to the party. He's a party-pooper of the highest order." Before anyone else could interject, she clapped her hands together and exclaimed, "Alright, we're leaving now so if anyone else has a problem with this, they can just keep it to themselves because we're losing daylight here!"

Faster than Rep could blink, Yuffie vanished. Suddenly he felt two hands on his back giving him a hard, teasing push. "Ninja powers?" he caught himself asking sarcastically.

She laughed and gave him another shove towards the door. "You know it!"

Cid rose off his chair and clapped Rep on the shoulder as he passed, whispering, "Get me a pack of smokes without Aerith seeing and I'll see if I can talk to Leon about those coming off later."

"Just be careful." Even with his back turned, Rep could feel Leon's eyes on him. "The usual infestation seems especially aggressive today. Try to keep out of sight if you can."

Rep rolled his eyes, glad that Leon couldn't see him. _"Try to keep me out of sight, you mean."_

Nearly at the door, Aerith joined them and held it open. Rep tried to pull away from Yuffie, but she seemed to be enjoying herself and adjusted her speed to match. "Quit worrying! This is going to be easy: get Riku some ice cream, show him some old rocks, show him some new rocks, and don't let him bring Maleficent or anything else nasty into town. Yeah, yeah, I got this!"

With a teasing wave at Leon and Cid, Yuffie gave Rep a final shove and slammed the door behind them.

* * *

"He really couldn't have picked a worse time to show up, could he?" Cid announced with a shake of his head. "Not when we need to be focusing all of our attention on the Traverse Town preparations."

Without answering, Leon fixed himself by the window with his hands resting on the sill, watching Aerith and Yuffie lead Riku along the city road. With baited breath, he half expected Riku to run. Though with no way to defend himself, apart from some rocks or building material he might find along the path, and every citizen in town knowing his face, Leon knew it would be easy enough to retrieve him. Their silhouettes, illuminated only by the setting sun, disappeared around a corner. With any luck they would have missed the crowd of workers returning home and would be able to bring Riku back under the cover of darkness.

"They'll be fine," Cid assured him. "They're smart and won't take unnecessary risks. Aerith has wanted to do this since we got him here and we all agreed that it would be alright."

"We agreed it would be alright as long as he seemed stable," Leon corrected sternly. "But he's not. You saw how he reacted."

His concerns were met with a low chuckle. "In that case, I would be happy to knock you out, chain you up, tell you that you can't do anything about it, and then, best of all, take away any and all recollections of this conversation so you don't remember who we are and what you did to deserve it."

"It's different," he argued with a barely concealed sigh. "You weren't there this morning when he came through the portal. Cid, he nearly allowed Ansem to reawaken right in the center of town."

Cid lit himself another cigarette and took a long drag. "The way I heard it, Riku was fighting the bastard the whole time. And since I'm looking around and the population hasn't decreased by a hundred percent, I'd say he won."

"But he doesn't remember him." Before Cid could provide a counter, Leon reasoned, "It's far worse now than if he did."

Raising his eyebrows, Cid crossed his arms and tapped his ashes onto the floor. "You're going to need to clear up that one."

Bracing himself for a lengthy explanation, Leon began. "He gave enough hints to piece together what must have happened to him. It sounds like Riku escaped Ansem at some point – Aerith mentioned that he claimed he had fought him off once before just as he fell unconscious – and used a portal to get here. Trauma or an accident caused his memory of Ansem and everything that happened today to be erased, meaning that Ansem has a blank slate to work with. Riku remembers enough to know that Ansem will come after him, but not enough to know who. Did you see how he avoided Yuffie's question? He knows he's being hunted but doesn't remember who wants him, and that scares him more than he cares to admit."

Cid ground his cigarette against the table and then stamped it onto the floor under his boot. Leon gave a small smirk when he pictured what Aerith's reaction would be. Turning back to Leon, Cid explained, "But here's what I don't get – if Ansem is the one coming after him, why did Riku mention that there were others?"

Leon frowned. It was a problem that had perplexed him as well. "Either his memory is still confusing him or…"

"Or what?"

Leon trusted Cid with many things. It was not a privilege many could claim. And yet he somehow felt as though he was betraying some sort of dark secret as he lay his suspicions on the table. "Aerith told me that there was someone else trying to possess Riku at the same time as Ansem."

Cid sucked his breath in through his teeth and closed his eyes. "Shit. So there're two of them now. Fan-fucking-tastic. Any prizes for guessing who?"

"I have a theory," Leon stated as he paced over to the table to sit opposite from Cid. "When Aerith sensed the other personality become strongest, it retaliated by summoning a host of creatures from the dark pool he was lying in – not Heartless," he clarified before Cid could interject, "something different. Something I remember seeing before."

"What?"

"The red-eyes. Those creatures that appeared a year before Hollow Bastion fell."

In the deepest recesses of his memories, Leon could still picture the terror that had gripped the town in that time. And from the look on Cid's face, he did as well. Unlike the uprising that had destroyed them, which had been sudden, vicious, and devastating, these creatures had gripped the town for weeks. Many became confined to their homes. Shops closed. Food became scarce. People tried to carry on with their lives as if nothing had changed, but the fear had made it impossible. It was during that time that Leon honed his abilities at fighting so that he could defend the town as best he could.

But then, as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished. They let their guard down in the aftermath, grew content with the peace, and never saw Ansem's onslaught coming.

"I wasn't the only one who recognized them. The kids – they had no idea what they were, but the adults recognized them as quickly as I did. It can't be a coincidence that they're appearing again now, just when Ansem has decided to make another appearance. There's some sort of connection that we're missing."

"Actually I have a theory too. Not about the 'not-Heartless' thing – though I guess it ties into it. I'm still hung up on what Riku meant by others. See, I don't think he's just confused and, to be honest, I don't know what this other bastard has to do with anything. But I think I might know who the others are."

"Who?"

"Ansem's apprentices. The six other guys who went down with him."

Staring down at a knot in the table's wood, Leon scowled. Xehanort, one of Ansem's most beloved apprentices had appeared in the square the same day that the red-eyes disappeared. Regarding it as more than a coincidence, everyone connected his name to their defeat and hailed him as a saviour. His loss had hit among the hardest. "I thought they died with everyone else in the castle."

"Did they though? We have no proof of that – but we do know that a few others made it out." Cid spread his arms and sighed. "Ansem survived, so who's to say they weren't a bigger part of his agenda?"

_"A part of his agenda… just like Riku is now. Innocent victim or not, he's a part of this."_

Leon rose from the table and walked over the blueprints. He had composed several of them himself. Silently he examined them, absorbing every last detail. There were plans for a market, schools, homes, and a library. Everything Leon could recall from Hollow Bastion before the fall was there except for a castle. There was no need to honour that particular memory.

With a look of confidence etched on his face, Cid reached into his pocket and pulled out another cigarette as punctuation. Leon patiently waited for him to finish, not tearing his eyes away from them. After a long drag, Cid continued, "Here's what I'm thinking: remember how Riku freaked out when he woke up? Specifically how he thought we were trying to enslave him? Again. He's been locked up before. You can tell just by the way he talks and acts and just holds himself that he's not used to being around people. So what if they were holding him for Ansem and they're who he escaped from."

"That's a pretty big stretch. There's no evidence and I'm not denying that it's possible, but…" Leon sighed deeply as his eyes narrowed. "I know you want answers. I do too. But it could have meant anything. Riku did a lot of things under Maleficent and Ansem's orders, and we know there are a lot of people who want him put to justice. That's how I understood it."

"We need to be prepared," Cid cautioned darkly. "We've already got Ansem and 'Mystery-Bastard' to contend with."

"We _are _prepared. You and Aerith and Yuffie and I, we've prepared to defend this town against anything. If they show up, we'll deal with them the way that we would with any other enemy who threatens our home. That's not the problem. The problem is that we never considered was _him _coming back like this."

"Who, Riku?"

Leon took his time in answering. He traced his hand along the outline of a house. Of all the places he had drawn, this one felt the most familiar. "Do you remember why I changed my name?"

Cid gave an odd laugh. "It's been so long, I'm not sure I even remember what you used to go by. But I don't get what that has to do with anything."

"Squall Leonhart ." With a glare, Leon turned to face him. "I took abandoned my name because I failed to protect this world. I was unable to protect the people I cared for, and it was the only way I could atone and have a new start. I gave up everything because I deserved to lose everything."

Coughing, Cid wiped his mouth and began stacking the dirty dishes. Leon knew it was only so that he wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "And you know that everyone thinks that was stupid, right. Especially your friends. You were fifteen – no one expected you to raze the Heartless down by yourself."

Leon reached down and took his gunblade off the floor. It was comforting to have back in his hands. He felt strong. "I did what I had to. I will always do what I have to. Riku is fifteen now too and look at what he's done."

"You can't make that comparison."

Shaking his head, Leon explained, "But Riku is not like me. He didn't give up his past on purpose and so, unlike me, he doesn't have to live with his failures." His eyes strayed towards the window, where the sun had nearly set as darkness overtook the sky. He could never forget the day that Hollow Bastion fell: the screaming voices crying out for help and silenced as their hearts were ripped away, the stench of darkness and blood, the dust from the falling buildings stinging his eyes, and the confusion and guilt as he awoke in Traverse Town, wondering why he was given a second chance when so many had been failed. "But we do. And I won't let this world fall to Ansem a second time."

Cid leaned back against the chair, throwing back his head against the back of the chair. Leon knew he understood. "So what are you going to do? Are you going to tell him the truth about Ansem to see what he does?"

"No. Riku's not in control, regardless of what he thinks. Ansem is too smart to be caught off-guard and we have to assume that he will have a plan. Riku is a Keyblade wielder and Ansem will never let him go."

Cid nodded gravely. "So we if we leave him as is, we run the risk of him blindly being corrupted all over again."

"But if we tell the truth, he might remember who he was and submit willingly," Leon finished for him.

"So we're screwed either way. He's like a bomb and that timer is always ticking down and the longer we wait to diffuse it, the worse the fallout will be."

Grimly Leon nodded. "Exactly."

"But take all that away - remove everything he's ever done and any plans Ansem might have for him - and just look at what what dropped on our doorstep today, and you get a fifteen year-old kid who's just desperately looking for answers and a place to feel safe."

_"Exactly."_

"So what are you going to do?"

Running a hand through his hair, Leon slung his sword over his shoulder and headed towards the door. "I'm going to see Merlin. There's a chance he might know more about those creatures that appeared and what caused them. Anything to help us know what we're up against."

He was at the door with his hand resting on the knob when Cid, in a voice he had never used before, said quietly, "I meant long-term."

Wrenching the door open, Leon kept his gaze straight ahead so that Cid could not see the shadow that had passed over his face. "I don't know. But whatever the cost, I won't fail this world again."

Leon left without another word. There was nothing more to be said.

* * *

_Notes for Rep's section:_

_Poor Rep's having a lousy day! I just really quickly want to take the time to explain his reaction to the manacles a little better._

_The entire story so far (from finding out he's a replica to now) has taken place over approximately two days, so it's been a lot for him to take in. However, several events have had a very powerful psychological effect leading up to this moment. First, he remembers Marluxia grabbing him with the vines, followed by being pinned to Vexen's operating table. Then Rep's heart is constrained by Vanitas. Next Axel grabs him in the hallway. Then Riku holds him down and nearly (I can say as the author, however, that he wasn't going to) kills him until Ansem steps in and makes it worse. Finally, in the back of his mind, he remembers Ansem and Vanitas holding him down while they each tried to take control. In each of these scenarios, someone physically restrained him, which in turn led to him being hurt and/or used. By the time he gets the manacles put on, being phyisically restrained in any way has essentially become a panic trigger because Rep believes it will always lead to him being abused. The line "I des-?" Is essentially when the fear takes over and he basically stops thinking. This is seen, to a lesser extent, earlier when Axel grabs him. He shuts down, is momentarily unable to speak, and finally breaks down crying. The other sort of irrational fear that he has is drowning, since that memory was made to be so powerful. I say irrational because Rep has never really been near a big body of water and its completely implanted._

_Okay, that was longer than 'a little quickly'. _

_Notes for Leon's section:_

_First, I want to apologise if this part seems a little too wordy or rushed. I was watching TV (apparently my sister thinks I have too many shows clogging up her PVR... oops) while writing it and REALLY just wanted to finish this chapter. I seriously hesitated even including it, but I think it's important to understand Leon's motivations._

_Also I wanted to clarify that I love Leon/Squall! I love everyone, actually, and you can consider this entire story to be a love letter to the entire Square/Disney franchise._

_(Although... 100+ pages in 8 chapters? I'm not sure if I should celebrate or feel embarassed. I had no idea it was that long until I checked!)_


	9. The First New World

I promised myself I wasn't going to split it... but I had to! I swear, I will have twice as many chapters as planned by the time I'm done with this thing. Oh well! Also, another big thank you to everyone who reviewed (I have over 50 now, wow! You guys are the best!).

* * *

**8**

The First New World

_Hollow Bastion_

"You don't really think I'd actually kill anyone, do you?" Rep dryly asked Yuffie as she shoved a blue ice cream bar on a stick into his hand. It was the first time he had spoken in nearly half an hour. "Or bring Maleficent back?"

Yuffie shrugged and bit into her own ice cream. "I dunno, maybe. But mostly I just like teasing Leon. It's so easy to get him riled up. For some reason my lot in life has led me to constantly surrounding myself with overly serious people like him and in this time I have learned that they're fun to bug. Keeps me entertained." She stopped and let the ice cream melt in her mouth. Grimacing, she pulled a face and stuck out her already blue tongue. "Yuck! Still too salty! It tastes like ocean. And I was hoping for something nice after all that fighting..."

"Even so," Aerith began, ignoring the comment about the ice cream though Rep caught her studying it warily, "you're not really helping Riku by doing so. Leon is anxious enough as it is and Riku certainly doesn't need any more bad publicity."

"Yes," said Yuffie snidely, though it was in jest. "But that could also be part of Riku's evil plan to take over the world and claim it for himself."

Rep wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh or not. "Trust me, that's not it."

"Oh, so you've got something more sinister in mind?" Yuffie probed while Aerith rolled her eyes. "You gonna let me in, or what? I can make a great evil partner in crime – you're looking at the best thief there is!"

"You didn't steal these, though, did you?" Aerith asked teasingly to change the subject.

Yuffie laughed. "Nope, bought these off Scrooge. I have to support the local cuisine." He turned to Rep and, as if it made all the sense in the world, added, "He's a duck."

Rep just nodded stiffly, knowing that Yuffie was hoping for a more shocked reaction. He was no stranger to walking, talking ducks, so one that made ice cream was not too farfetched to him. Even if it was, however, Rep still did not feel much like smiling. Biting into his own ice cream, Rep pulled a face and grimaced; there was practically no sweet flavor, just an overpowering salty taste that really did bring to mind memories of Riku accidently gulping down seawater as he dove.

"Is it supposed to taste like that?"

Aerith answered, "No, Scrooge keeps trying new recipes every so often. Sometimes it's quite lovely – nice, cold, and creamy, but that's never good enough for him. He wants to recreate an older recipe exactly the way that it was, which, unfortunately, is a balance between salty and sweet so it often just turns out like… well, ocean."

Yuffie sighed and tossed her barely touched treat into a trash receptacle along the road. Aerith followed her lead. "You don't have to finish that," she advised Rep with a small smile.

However he ignored her and continued sucking on it. The flavour was still overwhelmingly salty to the point where he wanted to gag, but as they had been walking Rep had begun to notice a weakness in his legs and suddenly remembered that he had not eaten or drank anything for over two days. By the time Yuffie had handed him the ice cream, Rep was finding that his vision was starting to blur and it was a challenge to keep from swaying on his feet. Without knowing when he would get a chance to eat again, Rep did not want to waste the opportunity. Once he had finally finished, his mouth was even drier than before but he was not feeling quite so ill. Following the girls' example, Rep tossed his stick into the trash.

"Alright ladies and gentleman, let's continue our tour!" cried Yuffie as she grabbed Rep by the arm and pulled him along.

"Let's just get this over with," he muttered under his breath.

Rep wanted to enjoy himself; it was the first world he had ever been able to experience for himself and he had to admit that it was fascinating to hear Aerith and Yuffie describe their plans and what the town would look like once it was finished. He was beginning to create a strong picture in his mind of what it once was and what it had the potential to be. Their words called forth images of grand waterways, sturdy buildings created entirely from rubble, and a strong and proud society. Rep could not deny that their dream could be beautiful. However Rep was reminded very quickly that it was a dream that he would never be welcome to share.

"It's _Riku_…"

"What's _he_ doing here?!"

"What are they thinking? Bringing _him_ out here like this…"

The whispers, laced with fear and unrivaled hatred, had shadowed him from the moment he had left the hut and echoed his every footstep. People had completely halted in whatever they were doing to watch him either by standing frozen in the streets or by peering out at him through a window, which was perceived to be safer. At first he had hung his head and wore what he hoped resembled an apologetic expression. He truly was sorry for losing control that morning and wanted to let them know that he meant no harm, but he had a feeling that they wouldn't care. Their disgust seemed to run much deeper than several hours could have allowed.

Rep tugged at the sleeves of his sweater, ensuring that his manacles were completely covered. He knew it was beyond childish, but just wanted to press his hands over his ears and block them out. The next best option, Rep found, was to simply return each of their glares with an even fiercer one of his own. At the very least, it usually made them look away.

"Just ignore them," Aerith whispered as she stepped in closer to him, almost like she was acting as a shield.

Shaking his head, Rep tried to listen to what Yuffie was saying about the "new-slash-old sewer system that probably (hopefully) wouldn't clog anymore". He didn't want to acknowledge that it bothered him. He didn't want them to think he was too weak to handle it. Though they failed to show it, Rep knew that Aerith and Yuffie too were on edge and he had heard Yuffie whispering just before she left to get the ice cream that she had not anticipated so many people. Eventually Rep came to the realization that his appearance in the city had effectively halted the normal flow of daily life and everyone was just standing around and waiting for him to do something to condemn himself. He could practically sense the tension radiating off the streets.

_"Just take a deep breath,"_ he told himself to little effect. He was torn between feeling angry and ashamed in a way that utterly confused him. Either way, Rep wanted to kick something. _"This is your first world. At least… try to look around."_

Raising his head, Rep attempted to peer around those that had gathered. There actually were not as many people as he imagined there to be, perhaps only a few on the streets, though their voices carried. He could sense more in the houses or on some of the other roads. But as Rep began to focus more on his surroundings, he slowly began to realize that despite all the talk of new buildings, there were a lot of houses already standing, far more than necessary for the community as it was. As he passed them, Rep began to notice unmistakable signs of abandonment: cracked windows, filth, and scratch marks from Heartless.

"Why are there so many empty houses?" he caught himself wondering aloud.

Yuffie halted and spun around to face him with a happy grin, like she was glad he finally wanted to participate in her tour. "That's an excellent question! I'm glad you brought that up." She gave a quick glance around and wordlessly grabbed Rep and Aerith's hands and pulled them onto a side street, apparently for privacy. Rep was just glad to be out of site for the moment as the whispers immediately died down.

Clearing her throat, Yuffie began. "See after Hollow Bastion was lost to the Heartless, a bunch of us all woke up in Traverse Town. You've been there, right? So you know what I'm talking about. It's sort of like… a fancy refugee camp for people from lost worlds. So me, Aerith, Cid, and Leon, along with some others, woke up there one day. As much as we wanted to, we knew we wouldn't be able to return home right away. So we started creating a new life for ourselves there."

Rep glanced up at the stone wall behind him. A large chunk was ripped out of it. Solemnly, he said, "but not everyone in Hollow Bastion made it to Traverse Town."

Awkwardly, Yuffie turned to him and gave him a nudge. "Well... no. They didn't. But don't worry! This story has a happy ending."

"You do have to understand, Riku, that many lives were truly lost when Hollow Bastion was overtaken. Regardless of how hard we pray for that to change, they will never be returning and their houses will remain empty for some time. But even with the sad prologue," Aerith said, her voice growing more confident with each word, "our story had a strong beginning. When first we arrived there, the world was empty. Both of people and of Heartless. It was if the worlds themselves had granted us a gift, a safe haven, to rebuild a new home. But overtime, as the Heartless army grew, more and more worlds became consumed. It was a tragic story, but our family began to grow. Their worlds too had vanished into the darkness." Continuing, Aerith said, "You see, when a world is claimed by the Heartless, it disappears completely. No one knows exactly what happens to them, though we have our theories. But we do know that they vanish from this realm."

"Realm?"

"Yes, the Realm of Light is where we are now. Hollow Bastion was once thought of as a keeper of the light."

Cruel then, Rep thought, that Maleficent would have chosen it to be her domain; for the people of Hollow Bastion it would have been seen as the ultimate insult. Though Rep was having difficulty picturing a place that was named 'Hollow Bastion' as anything worthy of calling itself a keeper of the light.

"So are there other realms?" he asked.

"I would assume so. When a friend of ours returns, you can ask him more about it. I'm sure he would love to explain his findings further. And I'm certain that you'll find him to be a wonderful story-teller."

Yuffie laughed. "Sure. If you like stories that go on forever! Just like this one - we still haven't even told Riku why all the houses are empty!"

Intrigued by the concept of other realms, places that even Riku likely didn't know about, Rep had almost completely forgotten what his initial question was.

"You see," explained Yuffie, "we had always assumed that Hollow Bastion had fallen like the others. Like disappeared. You know, 'poof'. But it didn't - unlike the worlds that were devoured whole, Maleficent kept ours alive to use for her kingdom. A lot of it, like the remains of this town, was blocked off by these impenetrable waterfalls. We didn't even know how much, or how well, it had survived until recently."

At this, Aerith's expression grew solemn. Her smile returned almost as quickly as it had vanished once she caught Rep's eyes watching her. "I'm fine," she assured him before he could ask. "Just... trying to remember which one of us is supposed to make dinner tonight. I'm almost certain it's Leon and I'm concerned that he'll forget."

Instantly Rep saw through the lie, but recalled the sad look on her face respectfully held his questions.

"Anyway," continued Aerith, shaking away any traces of sadness, "About a month ago, Maleficent was defeated." Strangely, Rep noticed, Aerith did not say by whom. Rep knew that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been the ones to finally end the witch's reign, but found it odd that Aerith, who seemed to know so much, neglected them. "Then, we returned here in our Gummy Ship on... more of a scouting mission than anything, really. And we found that the barriers that had held us back had been destroyed along with her. Almost by some miracle, the barriers had apparently prevented the remainder of our town from decay. It was like only one year had passed instead of ten."

"I mean, sure," said Yuffie, "we have a ton of work to do here. Well, you've seen it. There's a lot of rubble and destruction from the Heartless, but it's so much better than it could have been. I mean," she gestured around them with a huge grin, "most of the houses are still standing and the waterway was pretty functional when we got here."

Rep was quickly finding that Yuffie's enthusiasm was infectious and was even starting to feel a little better, despite his reservations. "That's great," he told her honestly.

"It is great! It's way better than we could have ever hoped for. So when we came back about a month ago to check it out, we knew that it was finally time to come home."

"But unfortunately it was not quite so simple," said Aerith, suddenly stopping to let several dusty and exhausted workers pass.

"What do you mean?" Rep asked as he casually stepped behind her, partially to avoid being seen. Luckily the workers were to intently focused on returning home to even spare him a glance.

To Rep's surprise, it was Yuffie who answered. "Well, when Maleficent and... uh, yeah, just her, was defeated, the worlds that had been lost to the darkness began to reform. They returned to our Realm exactly as they had been when they fell and all of the people in them came back too. But that meant that some of our friends in Traverse Town started vanishing to go back to where they came from too."

"Their hearts called for their worlds and they were granted their wish." Aerith's voice took on an unusual tone as she spoke, one that was mingled with both joy and pain. "In flashes of light, they all began to vanish. Though some, who had adopted children from Hollow Bastion or had become so inseparably close with those of us to came from there, found that their hearts chose a different path and yearned to return to Hollow Bastion with us. However, as Hollow Bastion had never technically been consumed we were not drawn back to it in the way that the others were'

"We gathered those who's skills would be the most crucial in the first stages of rebuilding, along with some supplies and living items, and travelled with them on the first airship here. This was about three weeks ago. Our second airship brought their families and nearly all of our supplies. The third trip was supposed to be the final one to bring home the rest of our people, but we never made it."

"Why not?"

Aerith paused to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. "When the true darkness was defeated, the walls that surrounded and separated the worlds began to reform and heal. We thought we had more time and were caught right as they began to seal."

"They barely made it out in one piece," muttered Yuffie. Rep saw her give a quick shudder and was reminded of the Heartless in Castle Oblivion being crushed by the door. "The Gummi Ship was horribly damaged. You've probably never had to deal with that because you can just bypass them with portals... okay _you_ _specifically_ can't, as we learned today, but others can. And I wasn't there because me and flying don't really get along. But I've heard it was pretty bad. Like the ship was crushed into a pulp kind of bad and it's taken a while to repair."

"That's why there are so many empty houses," Aerith concluded. "They're waiting for their owners to return home."

"So they might be stuck with no way out, but hey - at least they won't be homeless!" teased Yuffie.

Uneasily, Rep said, "But you're going back for them, right? I could..." he paused, thinking over what Yuffie had said. "I could try opening another portal so you could get to them."

Aerith seemed to be choosing her response cautiously. "It's very generous of you to offer, Riku, but I don't think that's the best idea. Portals can be extremely dangerous without protection and, unfortunately, we have none."

"Besides," Yuffie said with a grin, "even if you do manage to use one without knocking yourself out again, it might freak people out if you just pop out of a swirly hole of evil and order everyone to come with you. No worries though. Cid has apparently made some great additions to the ship, meaning that it should be able to survive at least one trip."

Raising an eyebrow, Rep said, "But that will only get you _to_ Traverse Town. What about the trip back?"

"Not to worry. We do have a plan that will go off in exactly one week." She glanced at Aerith with a lopsided smirk, though Rep noticed that it was only half returned it. "We'll tell you more about it later. But right now we have more town to see before the sunset!"

Suddenly Rep stiffened as a new scent caught him. A moment later he heard a cry and the clash of a thunder spell being set off. He did not even need the scent to know that a wave of Heartless had appeared.

Sharing a sigh with her friend, Aerith said, "I suppose that will have to wait. It's always something." She removed her staff from the strap holding tightly across her back. A little guiltily, she looked at Rep and muttered, "I'm sorry about this."

"Yeah, sorry," Yuffie agreed as pulled out her shurikens and sped off with Aerith in tow.

Rolling his eyes, Rep stomped in the direction they had gone and reappeared on the main street. Already Aerith and Yuffie had torn through the group of Shadows, Soldiers, Yellow Operas, and Gargoyles that had amassed in the middle of the street, leaving a sizeable dent in their numbers. Only sparing the slightest of glances to ensure that the girls were not in any immediate danger Rep walked right past them and slumped down on a stone ledge that was a fair distance away from the fight with a loud sigh of frustration.

Leon had been correct in stating that the usual numbers had increased since that morning and this was far from the first group they had encountered. Rep had suspicions that the fear that was gripping the town ever since he had arrived was the cause. However, if the furious words following him were anything to go on, they all believed that he was controlling and summoning them in greater droves to wipe them out. Desperate to make the voices stop, Rep had rushed at the first wave they had encountered, only to be thrown back by Aerith's staff and ordered to get to safety as she and Yuffie ran to help those already fighting.

"I can fight!" he had insisted furiously. It was only the incredible exhaustion and dehydration that kept him from rushing in, regardless. "It's pretty much the only thing I can do right. How else am I supposed to prove I'm on your side?"

His demands went unanswered, though he noticed Aerith becoming more and more agitated each time he brought it up. Finally, on the third group of Heartless they met, she could take it no longer and shouted at him to be quiet as he was disturbing everyone and his joining in would only make it worse for himself. She knew it was hard, she told him afterwards, but violence upon violence would never win them over.

Despite silently acknowledging her argument, Rep had been so furious that he was not even given a chance to speak up that he had kept his mouth clamped shut until Yuffie had gotten the ice cream.

Now sitting uncomfortably on the ledge, Rep passed his hands over the manacles; they did not feel quite so tight now, but he could not bring himself to hate them any less. They were a symbol, more than anything. _"I don't know what I imagined freedom to be like, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything like this."_

A lone Soldier Heartless broke away from the pack and charged at him. Aerith and Yuffie, along with several other men and women who had joined the fight, were far too occupied to notice. Rep took one look at its awkward gait and rolled his eyes. The Heartless made a lunge for his chest, but was halted by a hard kick to the face. Reeling back, the Heartless merely shook off the strike, which had dented its helmet, and renewed its attack. However, Rep once again sent it sprawling with another kick, this one less forceful than the first. And for the next five minutes, while his guides handled the real threat, he spent his time playing the odd makeshift game until he quickly tired of it.

_"I really can't believe that this is what it's come to,"_ thought Rep, leaning forward with a sigh as he punted the Heartless in the stomach without even sparing it a glance. The Heartless never changed its attack pattern, preferring only to run at his waiting feet, so it required little effort. _"Riku would love to see me like this."_

Abruptly he caught the sound of whispering. This time Rep did look up at the source and saw several girls carrying books emerge from the side street he had just left. Even from a distance he could read their horrified faces perfectly. He suddenly understood that, from their perspective, it would look as though he was controlling the Heartless since he was so nonchalant about it attacking him.

"Wait! I'm not - augh!" Rep snarled as his lapse in rhythm and had allowed the Heartless to bypass his defenses and leave a deep scratch along his ankle. Hissing, Rep kicked it a good distance away and pressed his hand over the wound as blood began to soak through his jeans. When he looked up, the girls had vanished.

Gritting his teeth and focusing on the Heartless' scent so that it would not catch him unaware a second time, Rep closed his eyes to think._ "I can't take this anymore. I know I don't deserve much, but I don't want to live with Riku's crimes forever. Mine are enough." _

Rep sighed as he glanced over at where Aerith and Yuffie were still fighting. Aerith was summoning beams of light to rain down on the them while Yuffie was dashing about with unmatched agility and striking each one with a shuriken. He wondered what everyone must would be thinking when they see him sitting alone on the sidelines. Would they be terrified that he was apparently unguarded, furious in believing that he was calling the Heartless to fight them, or ashamed that he was doing nothing to prove himself.

The Heartless ran at him, but Rep simply swung both of his feet up to stop it in its tracks. _"I know they want to show me around, but I just can't take any more of this today. __It wouldn't even be that bad if I didn't have to see their faces when they looked at me. Like I'm some kind of monster... even if I am... not human." _

Rep sighed and stared at his hands. He hated that his body belonged as much to Riku and Vexen as it did to him. But as he gazed upon them and his loathing for Riku grew, a memory began to form in his mind. It was not one that had been planted - it was his own. And he knew how to use it.

Because there was something he could do that neither Riku nor Vexen seemed to have planned.

_"I turned invisible once. And I can do it again."_

The Heartless continued to claw at him but with Rep's feet firmly planted on its face, it could do little more than flail its arms like a windmill. Ignoring it and everything around him, Rep inhaled deeply and tried as hard as he could to recall what had happened yesterday. Rep shifted his weight back closed his eyes and focused.

_"What was I doing right before it happened? The person who actually saw me was Axel. I could have turned invisible at any point between then and when I faced Riku. And I know it wasn't just Riku - his friend couldn't see me either. Was it something I did? I didn't... feel any different."_ He opened his eyes and glanced down at the manacles. _"Was it magic? I don't remember casting a spell, and even if I did I don't even know how to do anything other than dark magic.__ Ugh. I have no idea how I did it! This is impossible."_

Rep tried to keep his breathing slow and level. The Heartless' claws and the sounds of a battle raging nearby made it a slightly challenging, but Rep thought that he was doing quite well under the circumstances. He remembered feeling unusually calm right before meeting Riku and wondered if there was a connection. "Just think... invisible thoughts," he muttered.

Then, all at once, the voices disappeared, the sounds quieted, and even the scents became less potent as Rep slipped into a complete meditative state. All of his thoughts were directed towards recreating that moment. He was determined to remain completely focused until he accomplished his goal and absolutely nothing would break his concentration.

"Hey, you're Riku, right?" a child's voice called from his immediate left.

Three things happened at once. The first was that Rep jumped at the sudden sound and instinctively used magic to defend himself, creating a burning jolt throughout his arms. Second, he gave the Heartless too hard a surprised kick and disintegrated it. Finally, with the leverage supporting his weight gone and his body momentarily paralyzed from the manacles, Rep flipped backwards over the ledge and collapsed on his head as it hit the ground. With a sharp ache in his skull, Rep managed to crack his eyes open to see too young faces peering down on him.

"Are you okay?" the girl on his right asked hurriedly, her brown eyes wide with concern. As he groaned and righted himself, Rep began to realize that her voice sounded strangely familiar.

"Yeah, _are_ you okay?" asked her companion somewhat sarcastically. Rep knew it had been him who had spoken first. "I wasn't even that loud."

Rubbing his hands over the burn marks that now marred his skin, Rep snapped, "Yeah. I'm fine." He had expected the two children to just run away from him or for their parents to frantically whisk them away, probably between sneering at him some more, but instead they simply took a seat on either side of him. Expectantly they observed him, as if they thought he was going to make the first move. Having absolutely no idea how to respond to that, Rep just glanced at each of them and said awkwardly, "So... who are you?"

Placing a hand to her chest and giving him a warm smile, the girl introduced herself as Marlene and her friend as Denzel.

"Hey," Denzel said noncommittally, not quite meeting his eyes.

The introductions complete, the three sat in silence while Rep tried desperately to think of something to say. It didn't help that they were both intensely staring at him, though with different expressions; while Marlene seemed eager to talk to him, Denzel looked a little more wary.

"Are you from... here?" he asked finally, mentally kicking himself immediately after.

Marlene giggled under her breath. "We're too young to have been born here! I'm only six."

"I'm ten," added Denzel. "How old are you?"

"Uh, fifteen. Sort of."

"How can you be 'sort of' fifteen?"

Marlene nudged her friend. "He means he's fifteen and a half."

"Then why would he say it like that? And he looks older than fifteen, anyway."

"I meant I'm almost sixteen," Rep said quickly to put the bickering to an end. "What does it matter?"

"So where are you from?" asked Marlene, ignoring the question while she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress.

"I'm from the Destiny Islands." When they looked confused, he elaborated. "It's another world with a lot of water and palm trees and, uh, sand. And seashells."

Smiling, Marlene leaned forward to hear better. "That sounds really nice. Are there lots of flowers there?"

"Yeah."

"And fish?"

"Sure."

"And boats?"

"Tons."

"Can you climb the trees?" Denzel wanted to know.

"You can. But it kind of hurts because there aren't any good branches to hold. We had an obstacle course, though." Rep barely realized how weird it was for him to be listing off features on the islands as if he had actually been there. It felt so natural. "My favourite spot was on the islet under the paopu tree. I liked to watch the sun set over the water."

Marlene nodded happily, like listening to him talk was the most fun she'd had all day. "What's a... papoo?"

"Paopu," he corrected. "It's a fruit that looks like a yellow star. There's kind of an old legend that says two people who share one will be a part of each others lives forever."

"That sounds so romantic!"

"Have you ever tried one?" asked Denzel. Rep could hear a genuine curiosity in his tone.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have anyone to share it with," he snapped a little too fiercely as Naminé's image appeared in his mind.

Turning towards Denzel, Marlene giggled. "Would you like to share one with me?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," he replied as he shifted his position on the ground to a more comfortable one. "Could you get one for us, Riku?"

Rep could not believe he was even having this conversation. "Probably not." When they seemed to expect a reason, he elaborated, "I'm never going to be able to go back."

_"Or go there at all."_

"Oh," muttered Denzel with an apologetic glance. "That's too bad." Rep had to wonder if Denzel thought it was upsetting that Rep could never return to the place he thought was his home or whether he was just annoyed that he would never get the chance to try a paopu.

Suddenly Rep heard the clank of several Heartless' feet along the ground. The two children stiffened, but instantly relaxed once the sound faded. Rep could hear Yuffie calling for Aerith's assistance as the two of them fought. When he looked back, he noticed that both kids were sitting noticeably closer to him.

"It's not safe to be out here by yourselves," Rep addressed the pair, not quite sure what they wanted from him. "There are a lot of Heartless around."

"Yeah, like the one you kicked in the head?" Denzel piped up accompanied by a roll of his eyes. Scuffing his shoe along the cobblestones, he added, "no one is really paying attention of the Heartless today, even though there are so many - they're all too worried about you."

Unable to stop himself, Rep had to ask, "So, are you scared of me too?"

The pair looked at each other and shrugged. Answering for them, Denzel admitted, "Not really. We saw you backflip off a wall just because I said hi. You're kind of too dorky to be scary."

Nodding, Marlene joined in with a much more chilling, "You were a lot scarier this morning." She must have caught the look on Rep's face as she quickly amended, "but it wasn't your fault! You weren't... really yourself. Me and Denzel, we don't blame you for that!"

"Well, I wasn't there." Denzel ran a hand through his red hair and jerked his head in the direction of his friend. "But Marlene was."

"You were there?" Rep was horrified by the idea that he could have hurt a little girl if he hadn't gotten the darkness under control in time.

Cheerily she grinned. "Yup. Don't you remember me?" When Rep failed to respond, she pointed towards his middle and explained, "I gave you that ribbon."

Confused, Rep followed her hand to his pocket. The corner of his card was sticking out and Rep suddenly noticed that a long, red ribbon had been wrapped tightly around it.

"I gave it to you as a good luck charm to keep you safe."

Rep's heart seized as another voice that had once said those exact words came painfully to mind. In a strained voice he asked, "Say that again?"

Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Marlene complied. "I said it was a good luck charm to help you."

A lump forming in his throat, Rep nodded and all but ripped the ribbon off his card. It felt limp in his hands, like something that had died. Numbly he threw the ribbon onto the ground at Marlene's feet. "Here. You can have it back."

Before he could recover, Rep found the ribbon back in his hands. He glanced up to see Marlene's wide, brown eyes staring at him pleadingly. "But it was a gift for you! It's supposed to protect you from the darkness."

"You don't have to be so ungrateful," Denzel lectured him with folded arms and a stern expression. "She didn't have to give it to you."

"Don't you have anyone else you could annoy right now?" snapped Rep as he roughly stuffed both the ribbon and his card out of sight. ?He had almost resolved to throwing the ribbon away the moment the two left his sight, but something about the way Marlene was looking at him made him want to reconsider. She actually looked afraid, as though she truly believed would be in danger the moment he parted with it.

All three of them jumped, with Marlene practically tumbling into Rep's lap out of fright, as a particularly loud explosion resounded behind them and caused the ground to tremble. A cheer immediately after told Rep that they had been successful in taking down an unusually large Heartless.

Jerking his thumb towards the action, Denzel said almost accusatorily, "So why aren't you over there helping them?"

"That's none of your -"

"It's because of these, isn't it, Riku?" Marlene poked at his manacles, her tiny fingernails clinking along the metal.

Stunned, Rep asked, "How did you know that?"

"I heard Cid say something about putting manacles on you before he took you away. I asked Leon what they were and he said they were like special handcuffs. They look like they're hurting you," she pointed out with a touch of sadness, indicating the red lines where they had burned him.

Denzel nodded. "Yeah. I noticed you rubbing them after you fell off the wall. What do they do?"

Rep sighed and pulled back his sleeves to let the two get a better look at them. "Leon called them 'anti-magic' manacles. They're designed to stop me from using any of my dark magic or even summoning my sword. I'm useless as long as they're on me."

The explanation, it seemed, was not enough to satisfy Denzel. "Well just don't use dark magic then. That's what got you into this mess in the first place, wasn't it? Leon doesn't need to summon a sword to fight and he definitely doesn't need dark magic. Neither did Cloud. And they've never had any problems."

"It's not that simple!"

"Why not?" he challenged.

Rep ran his hands through his hair. He could not believe that he was having this argument with a child. Though, he had to admit, Denzel did have a good point. Why couldn't it be that simple?

A moment later he realized why not. The answer was obvious.

He was never created to be anything other than a tool for whatever form the darkness took, subject entirely to its whims and desires. For any other human being it might have been simple. But Rep was not human.

He was only a replica.

"I really don't know any other way. I was completely born into the darkness and wasn't... _made_ to be any other way. I can't change what I am. I'll never be anything more than this. Besides," he snapped at Denzel, stung that he had to reveal this part of himself, "why does it matter to you?"

Looking slightly taken aback at Rep's hostile response, Denzel replied, "It doesn't. Not really. It's just that... if I was as strong as you, I wouldn't let something like that stop me from doing everything I could to protect the people I care about."

Suddenly Rep heard Aerith's voice frantically calling Riku's name. He jumped, having almost completely forgotten about her and Yuffie fighting the Heartless. Shaking himself out a sort of daze, Denzel got up and poked his head over the ledge. "We're over here!"

A second later, their faces appeared above him as Rep craned his head to see. Their faces were flushed red and Aerith's long hair had gone slightly frizzy. "You can't disappear like that!" she scolded in between deep breaths. "We were so worried about you!"

"He was hanging out with us," Denzel explained. The look he gave Rep suggested that he had decided to let the remarks slide. "He's not doing anything wrong."

With a nod in the direction of each child, Yuffie addressed Rep. "They're not bothering you, are they."

"It's fine. They're good kids." Marlene and Denzel shared a grin at his words.

"And you two - what are you doing out here? You know there are more Heartless than normal today."

In response, Denzel shrugged and replied, "I went to visit Marlene at her place. We saw Riku sitting on the ledge through the window and thought we'd make sure he was okay. At first it looked like he was being attacked by a Heartless, but then we realized he was just playing with it." Rep merely shrugged under Yuffie and Aerith's bewildered expressions. "Then we just started talking."

"We weren't afraid," explained Marlene with an earnest smile, "because we knew that Riku would protect us if anything bad happened. Right, Riku?"

At first he almost blindly agreed so that they would not get in trouble with Aerith, but as he turned his gaze from her to Denzel and back again, Rep slowly began to realize that she had genuinely meant that. It was not a ploy to escape punishment; they had braved the dangers just to check on him, knowing intrinsically that no harm would come to them as long as they were by his side.

_"They... they actually believe in me." _He turned towards them, seeing only kindness in their faces. _"They don't know anything about what I really am, but they still think that it's okay that I'm here. Even after everything I said, they still think I have a chance at being something better. They're not judging me based on what I am - or even on what Riku did - they just see me as... me. As Rep."_

"Yeah," Rep agreed, sounding as stunned as he felt.

Aerith seemed to relax, looking almost relieved and Rep knew she had reached the same conclusion. "Well, I am very glad to hear that."

"We're giving Riku a tour of the city," explained Yuffie. "Do you two want to come along? My mouth is getting dry and I could use a few extra guides to handle some of the talking."

"We'd love to!" Marlene got her feet alongside Denzel and brushed the dirt from her clothes. "Oh, by the way. John and Terry said that we could have dinner with you tonight, if that's okay."

Raising an eyebrow, Aerith addressed a slightly fidgeting Denzel. "Are your... parents okay with it too?"

"Yeah, they're fine with it," he responded a little too quickly.

Aerith looked less than convinced, but appeared to let it slide as she seemed almost too tired to argue. With a wave of her hand, she gestured their group forward. "Well, it's almost time to show Riku the sunset. So, let's head up there."

Rep sped up to catch up with Denzel and whispered quickly, worried that he would be noticed and interrupted, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"

Spinning around with his eyebrows raised, Denzel stopped. Even knowing that the manacles made him near defenseless, Rep knew that it was a measure of how much Denzel trusted him that he would even consider it. "What's up?"

"What you said back there about being strong, it sort of made me think. See, there's this guy I know called Sora. He's the strongest person I've ever known. And not just because he's a great fighter. He was kind to me when no one else was, even when I gave him no reason to do so. No matter what I did, no matter the mistakes I made, he still thought I had a chance. And even though I wasn't who he thought I was, I hope there was a small part of him that didn't want to see me go." Rep smiled down at Denzel, almost able to imagine that his fluffy orange hair was Sora's brown spikes. There was no need, however, to change his eyes - they were just as blue and gentle as Sora's were. "You remind me of him. I know it might not feel like it now, but you're a lot stronger than you think you are."

Slowly a smile spread across Denzel's face and he nearly laughed in delight. "You really think I can be strong like you and Sora?"

"Yeah. I do."

Rep hardly had time to react as Denzel suddenly flung his arms around his waist. He stumbled back, though quickly regained his footing enough to steady the both of them. Unsure what to do with his hands, Rep just let them hang awkwardly by his sides while Denzel continued to hug him in gratitude. As confused as he was, Rep appreciated the gesture all the same.

"Thanks, Riku," Denzel whispered into his shirt, and for a moment Rep desperately wished he could have said who he really was. Denzel pulled back and Rep was glad to see that his smile had not faded. "I really think you can change, you know. I don't care what anybody else says. You just have to want to."

Rep didn't know how to respond to that. "I..."

"Hey!" Yuffie called, waving her arms frantically. Rep was only able to just make out her silhouette against the sudden darkness of twilight. Aerith and Marlene had disappeared, though Rep was able to find their scents just beyond the ledge behind Yuffie. "Guys, get a move on! You really don't wanna miss this."

"Let's go!" cried Denzel as he grabbed Rep's hand and sped off after them.

They followed Yuffie up and over a crumbling wall to a place that Rep guessed was beyond the city limits. Brambles and thorny bushes were piercing through the dry ground, though the humidity was increasing with each passing second. Cid's sweater was feeling hot and heavy against his skin and, had there not been two children following right behind them, he would have considered taking it off.

Yuffie wiped the sweat off her brow and glanced up at the sky. The dark clouds were starting to roll. "Phew, looks like it might rain tonight."

Denzel kicked at the dirt. "It looks like we could use it."

She nodded in agreement. "It would certainly be good for the new farms - see them over there?" Following her gaze, Rep peered over a hill to see a number of small, square fields off the eastern edge of the town. He could see several straight rows of raised dirt in each one, but was too far away to tell if anything was growing.

Suddenly Rep felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Marlene staring up at him. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles and she was panting. "Riku, could you carry me?"

"Uh..." he looked up at Aerith for guidance. She just shrugged, though Rep had the impression she was laughing. "Sure."

She grinned at held her arms up. Rep bent down and gathered her into his arms, surprised at how light she was. Marlene adjusted her weight to sit more comfortably and put less strain on him. "Thanks, Riku."

"It's no problem."

"She's not too heavy for you? You're not tired?" Yuffie asked.

"I'm fine. Just a little hot."

"Not to worry! We're just... about... THERE!" she cried, running the last few meters up the hill.

Rep had been walking with his head slightly hung so that he could watch for any rocks or sudden drops that might have caused him to trip and drop Marlene, and as such had not been watching the sky. Therefore he had not at all been prepared for what he was about to see as he neared the edge of the cliff where the others were waiting and, with nowhere else to go, finally looked up.

The sky was painted crimson with the thick clouds looking like elegant brush strokes across the canvas. The emerald hills rolled beneath them, seemingly endless until they suddenly collided with a mountain range that appeared to shatter the horizon. Rep could only stare in amazement at the sheer beauty that was unfolding before him.

Aerith beamed at him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's the first," Rep said without thinking, so caught up in the radiance that he forgot who he was supposed to be. "It's my first sunset. I never knew it could look like this. It's so real." Rep felt a tug on his sleeve and, like pulling him out of a dream, he glanced down into Marlene's puzzled eyes.

"But... you said that your favourite part of being home was watching the sunset with the papoos. So it can't be your first, right?"

Immediately his face grew hot as he sensed all eyes on him. As casually as he could muster, Rep explained, "I meant that it's my first sunset since I left home a year ago. I, uh, almost forgot what it looked like after so long. It's nice just to see the sun again." He wasn't sure if it was the fading sunlight, the humidity, or the intense way that everyone was watching him that was making him feel so flustered. "It's colourful," he offered clumsily.

To his surprise, their confusion and suspicion instantly became pity. "You must have been through an awful lot," Aerith said sadly as she lay a hand on his shoulder. Rep gave a silent nod in confirmation.

_"That was stupid and careless. I'll have to be a lot more careful in the future if I want to keep this up."_

Nonetheless, the slip of the tongue that nearly unravelled his entire identity was not enough to tear Rep away from the site of the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon. There was a flash of red as it kissed the mountainside and, spellbound, Rep watched it sink lower and lower until the tallest mountain peak appeared to be piercing it through the middle. No one said a word until the last rays of light vanished.

"We should head back," said Aerith, laying a hand on Rep's shoulder and gently guiding him away. "It will be night soon and the Heartless tend to become more aggressive in the darkness." She squinted up at the sky and shielded her eyes with her hand. "And Yuffie's right about the rain. I just felt a few drops."

Rep nodded, though found he had to pull himself away from the ledge. Had he not been carrying Marlene still, he would have insisted on staying out and waiting to see the stars for the first time. But he understood what Aerith meant and knew it would be unsafe to have the two children so far away from the town after dark. Just then, he too felt the splatter of a raindrop on his forehead. It was instantly followed by another. And another.

The rain began falling in buckets as they tore back down the hill. The dust quickly became thick mud and Rep had to struggle not to slip while still holding Marlene. The sweater was clinging to him like a second skin and his hair had become plastered to his face. It was a challenge to make out Aerith's back as she ran in front of him and he was nearly relying purely on scent to know where the others were. He thought that someone might have screamed something at one point, but any words that might have been were silenced by a thunderclap that seemed to shake the entire foundation of the hillside.

The only that Rep knew they had finally made it back into town's boundaries was that the elevation suddenly levelled out. Soon after he was able to feel the familiar texture of cobblestones under his feet. Night had completely fallen and only faint street lights, many of which had yet to be restored, were his only guide through the winding streets. He could tell that the streets were deserted and was able to sense clusters of people in various location along parallel lines, knowing that everyone but them had made it home safely.

A shock of yellow flashed by him in the rain, darting by so quickly that he almost thought it was a bolt of lightening. However, no thunder followed. Suddenly the light reappeared in before him, above him, behind him. Surrounding him. Rep skidded to a stop as his chest grew tight.

There was no mistaking that scent.

"Stop!" he screamed to the others. "Don't go any further!"

Yuffie spun around first, followed by Aerith and Denzel. "Riku! Hurry up - we have to get out of the rain! It's crazy out here!"

"Don't move! Just stand exactly where you are." He felt Marlene's arms tighten around his neck in fright. She saw them too.

Aerith took a step towards him and Rep bristled, shaking his head and holding up a hand as an order to not approach any closer. "Riku," she shouted over the rain, "what's going on."

So quietly that none could hear her but Rep, Marlene whispered, "That." The others followed her gaze and instantly understood. There was no need for words.

The flashes Rep had seen were not lights at all - they were eyes. One hundred pairs of glowing yellow eyes motionlessly observed them from the rooftops. Rep knew they were Heartless from the scents, but they looked unlike anything he or Riku had ever seen. They were black as the sky behind them with liquid gold eyes, calling to mind images of Shadows, but they were human sized with powerful limbs and thick, sharp claws. And unlike Shadows, which were always twitching as if they had lost control of their own bodies, these were silent, motionless, and intently focused on their prey.

"Are they Heartless?" Marlene whispered, shuddering against him.

With a lump in his throat, Rep nodded. The rain was distorting their image, making it so that they could strike at any moment without being seen. As slowly as he could, Rep lowered Marlene onto the ground. The Heartless intently followed his every motion yet did not make any move of their own. He could almost feel their eyes on him. Once he was certain that she was securely on the ground, he hissed to Aerith over the rain, "You have to take these off me."

"Riku," she pleaded, "I can't. I'm sorry."

Frozen, Rep stared at her in horror. "There are too many of them for the two of you to handle. There are hundreds of them and these two," he nodded quickly in the direction of Marlene and Denzel, "are in danger. You have to let me fight!"

"I know! I know!" Aerith insisted, glancing up at the Heartless to see if they had reacted. "But you have to understand. The manacles are protecting you from using a darkness you can't control. Riku, there is a very strong possibility that you summoned them here without knowing. You don't have control of... _them._"

Rep felt like screaming. "What are y - "

"She's right," Yuffie snapped before he could fight back. "We can't take that chance."

"What do you want, then? That we just _run_? Look around! They're surrounding us. If we call for help, they'll be massacred the second they leave their homes. You can't protect the three of us while fighting them all. You have to trust me or we will all die."

Rep thought he saw Aerith falter as her hand unconsciously reached towards him. "So what are you proposing?"

He took a deep breath and laid out his plan. "I have an attack. It's called Dark Aura and, yes, it relies on the darkness. But it's powerful and I can take out a lot of them at once." Rep glanced up at the Heartless. They had shifted forward on their haunches but had come no closer. "I'll hold them off while you get Marlene and Denzel to safety."

"And how do you know it won't just make everything worse?"

"I don't," he clarified sternly. "But you have to let me try. It's our only chance. I can promise you that I'm not doing this, but you have to let me end it. I'm the only one who can."

Marlene's grip tightened on his hand. "But... what will happen to you? You can't fight them all by yourself."

Rep shivered and tried to convince himself it was just the rain. He knew what had to be done. "I'll be fine. That's not important right now." Rep's eyes strayed to the rooftops, where the Heartless were beginning to descend slowly and methodically. Silently they crept forward in waves, their eyes swimming in the blackness through the rain. "There's no time! Just let me do this. Please."

With a pained expression, Aerith closed her eyes and nodded. "Alright."

She began to walk towards him. Her eyes were trained intently on his, as if the Heartless never existed. Aerith was careful not to move to quickly or loudly. After what seemed like agonizing ages, she finally reached him.

The Heartless stopped and waited.

Aerith's hands closed over the manacles. Up close, Rep could see that her eyes were red and wet. It was impossible to tell if it was from the rain or tears. "I'm sorry. We'll come back for you as soon as they're safe."

"Just get them out."

She nodded and pressed against the cold metal of the manacles. Rep felt them grow hot as the spell on them was being broken. Despite the situation, he felt a stirring of relief in his stomach. He was going to get them out. But suddenly Rep felt a shift in the scents and happened to look up. Every golden eyes were trained directly on his. They had passed directly over Aerith and was watching him intensely. Waiting for him to be freed.

All at once Rep understood. The Heartless obeyed the will of the darkest heart and these were able to plan, think, and act only because they were meant to. The Heartless had not attacked because they were waiting for a command. They had no interest in the others because it was him they were searching for.

Aerith had been right all along - he was unable to control the darkness within him and without knowing it, he was mastering them. And that power was about to be released.

"Wait - don't!" Rep wrenched his hands from her grasp. "You have to run! Now!"

The spell sealed as the Heartless lunged.

* * *

_Notes:_

_Soooooo... I had to split it. I refused to but I had to give in. Unless you guys wanted a 40 page chapter..._

_Do you?_

_Nah ;)_

_I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, just that I hoped you liked it. And stay tuned for the next one in a few weeks! (Hopefully not too long, because that's the one with all the action.)_

_Aaannnddd please leave a review if you like the story so far! It honestly makes my whole day!_


End file.
